Tyrion is Slowing George's Writing Down 

I think Preston has a point actually. It's no secret Tyrion is George's favourite character, largely because of the constant wit and comebacks that fly out of his mouth. But George has to think them up first. So instead of advancing the plot, he's sitting there like a comedian writing their new routine.

George was way ahead of his time with his militant dedication to the writing strike

A Game of Thrones: Catelyn needs to go to King's Landing. Next chapter: she's in King's Landing. If George wrote the first book later in life there'd be six Catelyn chapters as she makes her way to KL.

Hmmm...maybe all of those various threats to cut out Tyrion's tongue represent George's subconscious mind giving him a way out?

'Tyrion is the key to all of this' George R.R. Lucas

4:15 - "Does this give you some, like... sympathy... for Dave and Da-" Let me stop you right there, Carmine. No.

I think it is a bit of an overstatement to say Tyrion "tricked" Aegon to go west, not east. Tyrion is being rather nihilistic at this point, going so far as to consider himself an undead "revenant" haunting Westeros, and he is rather pleased to see he has caused yet another facet of conflict to rise up in Westeros (which Cersei and Jaime will have to deal with, both of whom Tyrion despises). This isn't Tyrion actively sabotaging Aegon's cause, he is pleased to have wrought a new problem for Westeros as a whole to deal with.

I kind of agree with Glidus+X that the "five year gap" is over-emphasized in discussions, but it's clear that George was reluctant to commit to any sort of time jump. George was worried that he'd make a long years/months jump and would miss details of Jon's time as LC, Dany's time leading Meereen, Tyrion on his travels, and so many others. He was afraid of the idea of "five years have passed, yet no real major plot points have happened, and now all of my POVs are experiencing significant events." But the other option to him was "describe every little second of all of these characters' lives" and now he's set the pace of the narrative to what it is, which is why so many people think the story can't possibly finish in under nine books.

The longer it takes for winds the more jaded Preston becomes. I hope preston still wants to read it by the time it comes out because I don’t want anyone els to explain to me what I read.

We are honestly so spoiled to have an articulate guy do so much for this serie we love lol

It actually makes sense for Tyrion to bring Penny along - sure, she's like him and she is pitiful, and because of his actions (or his family; Cersei) her brother was murdered - but more important... Tyrion is suicidal, he wants to punish others, even the world, but he also feels like he should be punished himself, and here comes someone willing to punish him.

Tyrion’s chapters in ADWD were hard to get through on my first read. Later I appreciated them because they were world-buildy and they contained lots of Easter eggs important for other storylines. Ultimately though, not a lot actually HAPPENS in Tyrion’s chapters in ADWD.

I took these Tyrion chapters to be the first steps in his villainy role. He's depressed, miserable, and lots of dark thoughts.

Tyrion in aDWD is really cool the second time but I remember how when his story finally got super interesting with Aegon and Jon he just separates from them and gets kidnapped by freaking Jorah, I felt that as a personal attack.

Here's my hot take if you're going to have Tyrion not appear for an entire book that would probably be the time to have him crossing an entire continent where nothing much happens to him ... George couldve made that timeline work ... plus a suprise reveal of Tyrion in the East somewhere wouldve been fun

Giving Duck and Haldon extended backstory makes sense when you consider what Aegon is, but the execution could have been better. Aegon and the Aegon Cause is meant to be people rising up from poor conditions or unfortunate circumstances to become something in the world. Total nothings who would otherwise be forgotten carving their own way in the world, albeit with fire and steel. Rolly Duckfield was a blacksmith's son without a surname who beat up his Lord's son that was stealing from him and ran to escape death. A poor kid who just wanted to have the sword his dad made him was sentenced to death for attacking a upperclassman's kid. Haldon is a very good teacher and advisor but he didn't get promoted to Maester and quit. Was it because he just wasn't good at one or two particular subjects? Politics in the Citadel, maybe? It happens in workplaces all of the time in real life. Septa Lemore was pregnant once and is now in service to the Faith. Did she lose the baby? Was it out of wedlock? Did the father die? JonCon was stripped of his home and got exiled because he didn't win a battle and now suffers PTSD from the event. Aegon himself was raised among fishermen and had to work to survive. If he's even a real Targaryen/Blackfyre, he still had a rough upbringing that was designed to teach him how the lower class suffers and needs support from the upper class and politicians. And the Golden Company itself, Aegon's private army, is made up of the children of exiles who fought for the losing side in a civil war that started because a fat loser couldn't make it clear who his preferred heir was. Thousands and thousands of people who quite literally fight to survive are trying to return to their ancestral homeland and settle down. If it would have been handled a bit better, it might have been more obvious that the Aegon Cause is trying to paint itself as the altruistic cause where anyone can rise to the top and have their own future. Hell, Rolly Duckfield went from being a smith's son to being the Lord Commander of someone's King's Guard. If he can do that, anyone can do anything if they try hard enough and have the support system behind them.

If I recall correctly, almost every Storm of Swords Tyrion chapter had already been written when Game of Thrones was published. Tyrion was George's narrative zipline.

I kinda of disagree with the statement that nothing happens on Tyrion chapters because we are introduced to young Griff and Tyrion makes his invasion start. Besides o really loved the world building and his dealing with the trauma he had just lived

Nonsense! Tyrion and Jorah's high-stakes tiara-shopping in Volantis is the best part of the entire series! Its surpassed only by that riveting part of Tyrion II where he's looking at dung on the Valyrian road... Lol I made the mistake of reading part of Tyrion in ADwD back-to-back with Daenerys III AGoT. Dany travels more in a paragraph than Tyrion does in several chapters.

ASOIAF is not a plot driven story but a character driven one. Tyrion has always been my most favorite chapters to read. I'm not overly obsessed with plot moving forward as much as I am invested in the characters themselves. Most fans just seem obsessed with Dany and white walkers getting to Westeros. Maybe it's just me but I find other plot points more interesting.

I always felt that George set himself up for a lot of trouble down the line with his PoV structure. The reality of the matter is that there will be times in a story where a lot is going on in one PoV while there is almost nothing going on in another. Other authors could simply skip over that time by staying with an eventful PoV for longer but due to the fact that George always switches PoVs every chapter and has his set of "main PoV" characters he basically always has to create filler plot-lines to bridge that uneventful time which often results in superfluous chapters.

I actually enjoyed all of the Tyrion chapters in Dance, and I liked the Volantis chapter a lot. I liked how it set up the future involvement in the Dany storyline and I enjoy seeing Jorah brought down a peg by the widow. I love the Shy Maid chapters and the one where Tyrion joins the second sons. He is in a very dark place in this book and it sets up his role in the end game, I wonder if given a choice would he join Dany, Aegon or will he do what he can to destroy his siblings and Kings Landing, not caring whether Dany or Aegon come out on top at the end of it all.

Agree with Preston about Tyrion being clever to the point where it becomes annoying in his chapters and understanding d&d struggling to write dialogue for him. However, watching seasons 6, 7 and 8 I'm convinced they didn't even try hard.

I’ve always felt that the first few chapters of Tyrion in Winds is somewhat self-explanatory. The Westerosi characters that headed to Meereen (Tyrion, Quentin, Vic, Jorah) were all there to see Dany. But now Dany is gone and the city is in chaos. This was because Dany and her court were uniquely unequipped to deal with the Harpy and Meereenese politics through lack of political guile, the inability to take risks and lack of outright brutality (and therein the lack of follow through.) Tyrion would be an excellent POV to actually figure out who the Harpy is. Uncovering the Green Grace conspiracy is something that Barristan was wholly unable to do, but having a real political maneuverer in Meereen is exactly what Dany needs. His time as Hand could be played upon heavily here. It’s exactly what he needs as a character. Quentin would be an excellent husband for Dany. Preston has set him up to be a dragon rider. He is clearly motivated by a desire to ride dragons, to do the bidding of his father, and to marry Dany. And there is no way she would be attracted to him considering he’s a charred mess. Also they’re both infertile. Vic becoming Dany’s Master of Ships was set up with the death of Grolio. He’s kind of the wild card in terms of loyalty, but if Dany was to take both him and Quentin as husbands it wouldn’t matter and would also be a cool Aegon reversal. Securing both the Iron Islands and Dorne (the two historically most unruly kingdoms) would give the Feast chapters so much newfound relevance. Vic could continue to have his salt wives but obviously his lust for The Dragon Queen could be used to set up further conflict. Either way, I think George was trying to set up Dany’s new, smarter, faster, stronger and yes, crueler court. Imagine Dany returning to Meereen and having the Green Grace’s head presented to her and the Harpies strung up. Out with the old, in with the new.

I don't think this is qualitatively different from the slow pace of Feast. You can do this plot synopsis where you show how very little is happening story wise, but you gloss over what is happening with the characters and their environment. We follow Brienne and pretty much every village she passes along her journey, talking about their histories and how the war has affected those places.

I for one enjoy all the drawn out descriptions in Tyrions chapters. I feel like I got a tour of more of Essos. I felt the same longing to see the world like Lomas Longstrider that Tyrion expressed in the earlier books, and that fullfilled that. I did notice in Winds though that a ton of the 'action' takes place in the characters heads as they ruminate. All the mantras come out as well. "Wherever whores go" "Shes fucking lancel..etc" That sort of thing is impossible to adapt to the screen, so no wonder Dave and Dan scrapped it all.

23:45 - Maybe Duck was originally going to take Mormont's role? I don't mean kidnapping Tyrion, necessarily. But I mean in the sense that maybe him and Tyrion were going to be forced to go on a solo journey somehow. Like they get separated from Griff and Young Griff somehow? It could make sense. And then Martin eventually decided it'd be better to give that role to Jorah.

I think there multiple reasons working together. 1. Tyrion, as explained here 2. The Battle of Fire has to many POVs just like the Mereenese knot 3. The only POV at the wall is Melisandre and showing magic from the eyes of a experienced sorceress is less mysterious. So he might want other POVs for the resurrection

I know I'm off topic, but I always really liked how the opening line for Quentyn's first chapter was, "Adventure stank." I feel like that says so much and has a lot of depth to it. The very things that we all dream of, our greatest desires, our own fabled quest for glory, smells of shit and piss, death and unimaginable suffering. It's a fantasy held up by the scourged backs of the enslaved and downtrodden. A rude awakening to reality.

Tyrion chapters sets up the slaves of pentos being ready to revolt. And the followers of the Red God. And all of the stuff with FAegon. I think its good set up.

The ASoIaF fandom is steadily changing from a fantasy book fandom into a support group for disappointed people so far gone that they've even given up on hiatus brain.

I thought the advice he gave to Aegon was smart and that was shown through Quentin who had nothing to offer to Deanerys just like Aegon wouldn't.

I think one of the problems is that somewhere between Storm and Feast GRRM developed a massive love of cliffhangers, and as a result, every tiny plot development now gets a full chapter of built-up and then the cliffhanger. Reading the first three books it's kinda shocking how much could happen in a single chapter back then!

I think you kind of answered your own question on why they would spend a lot of time of Ser Rolls Duckfield. He IS an important character. He's the first of Aegon's KG and is about to help him take Storm's End. The fact that his nickname makes him and his king "Duck and Egg" is also a pretty clear sign he's destined for greater things imo.

If any character is giving him trouble, it's Bran. 3 Bran chapters since 2000. 3 Bran chapters in 23 years.

Was rewatching your purple wedding video and had a thought, what if Tywin helped in joffrey’s murder? He explicitly states his disdain for Joffrey and how uncontrollable he was, and I know you don’t like to use the show as reference but we get a lot more indicatives in it including a “I will deal with him” right before the wedding, and starting to groom tommen right after joffrey’s death. It also seems strange that he seemed to actually believe Tyrion was the culprit, he knew the whole trial was a sham and it’s hard for me to believe he’d think tyrion would just murder the king and then stand there pleading himself innocent, he knew him better than that, even if he was suspicious I doubt he’d just stand there and not go after other possible suspects. The murder falls right into his hands, get a king he can control and get rid of tyrion, not to mention it would explain littlefinger’s involvement since he was the bridge between tywin and the tyrells, olenna voiced her concerns about Joffrey, tywin or baelish hatched the plan and the latter took care of arranging the whole thing in exchange for Sansa.

...I guess a lot of the Tyrion ADwD could pay off in TWoW? If Tyrion and Dany retrace Tyrion's steps? Revisit and reinterpret the ruins of the Rhoyne and Andalos in the context of dragons (maybe find the House with the Red Door?) I think this line (among others) certainly sets up Daenerys' attack of Volantis: "If I were khal, I would feint at Selhorys, let the Volantenes rush to defend it, then swing south and ride hard for Volantis itself." (Tyrion VI ADwD)

I always though Tyrion had the most music in his POV. Tyrion, Jaime, Davos are the easily the most poetic, also Brienne.

Remember when Tyrion picked random mushrooms in Ilyrios manse and apparently kept them in his shoe for the rest of the series. Like wtf happened there. How can you keep shrooms in your shoe. He was captured as a slave .. so I presume they took his shoes . Yet he still has them? How are they not crushed , and contaminating him? Like we all do touch our feet sometimes . Lol . I feel like this was a major aborted plot . I feel like George had some thing in mind for what he wanted him to do with them but then I guess it never came to fruition and he’s still walking around with mushrooms in his

Maybe all the focus on Duck could be a way to show how important he is to someone else? So like his importance to Faegon? Or maybe it's just seeding for something that he plans to happen later.

This is exactly why you outline a story, especially one that comprises multiple books

Tyrion's ADWD story could have really benefitted from some of that breakneck AGOT pacing. Keep in mind that Dany travels from Pentos to the Dothraki Sea off-screen between two chapters. No 10 chapter travelogue describing every hill and village they came across along the way. Tyrion in ADWD kind of feel like George wasn't completely sure what do with him. He knew Tyrion needed to end up with Dany and he knew that he would spend some time with Aegon and JonCon but everything else feels pretty arbitrary and like it could have been swapped out for any other set of circumstances. I think maybe George was trying to go for the same vibe Tyrion had in AGOT where he travels through half of Westeros and gets involved in all sorts of shenanigans, but the difference is that in that book all the things that happened to Tyrion (going to the Wall, getting captured by Cat, his trial at the Eyrie, fighting on the Trident) were actually relevant to the other stories being told. Being captured by Cat and being tried by Lysa actually had a profound impact on all of Westeros (as it basically set off the Wot5K) as compared to being captured by random slavers and being sold to a random Yunkish nobleman. I get that in a way Tyrion's story is kind of supposed to feel like a drag because that's kind of the headspace he's in after killing his father, but it still feels like George wasn't entirely sure how to resolve this inner conflict. Tyrion at the end deciding that he wants to live after all comes pretty out nowhere and doesn't feel like something that came as a result of what the character actually experienced. Maybe we'll get some better Tyrion in Winds again but with Dance Tyrion really just became a way for George to shove in a bunch of mostly unnecessary worldbuilding.

Imagine if they take Tyrion out of the crate and hes already in Mereen! lmao. Strong Belwas holding a crowbar, Ser Barristan panicking, Dany being confused.

ever since I heard George giving his "gardener" spiel, I knew he has no fucking clue what he is doing with these books

I don’t even read the books but I love watching these 2 talk about them

I remember at one point looking Duck up on the wiki and being flabbergasted that there was quite a bit there about his backstory. I was like "wait what? when did that happen???" I completely forgot he explained his life's story. Completely fled my memory. We don't get anything on Lemore or Haldon, oh no they're left as mystery boxes. Really crucial to establish what's up with the forgettable one.

Is it because George is having trouble reconciling "I drink and I know things" with book Tyrion?

Tyrion XXVI TWoW: The Valyrian road was lightly flecked in snow, shimmering beneath the stars. Straight and flat it was, raised half a foot above the frozen earth. Four hundred years this has been here, at least, Tyrion thought. Through summer and winter, spring and autumn. War and flood and famine, and not a bit of it has left its mark. To the west the road was a bluish silver river like the flight of some great arrow, fearlessly driving towards the horizon and further on, to the stormswept sea and the lands beyond. Would that it were an arrow, he thought as he picked at the ice that clung to the smooth stone. He imagined loosing it, straight and true, launching it across the narrow sea. King's Landing was due west of here, he judged, or near enough to make no matter. He recalled the comet that had streaked the sky, as Joffrey ascended his throne. How sweet it would have been, if that comet had come down on them like an arrow, to crash into the Red Keep and reduce all who dwelt there to ashes. Joffrey would have looked oh so comely with his hair burnt away, his every bone shattered and his youthful skin black and blue and green beneath the burns. And my sweet sister... But it was no good. All the giants were dead and gone, he'd read, so not a man alive could heft an arrow as wide as the road before him, and not even the strongest of that lost people could have sent it hurling across the sea. Even the Sarnori, the tall men who'd conquered these plains when the world was young and plied the finest bows in the world a thousand years before the first dothraki khalasar would not have been equal to the task. His fingers were properly chilled by then, and he'd cleared the flakes on snow from no more than a handspan and the smooth stone. Dawn must surely come soon, he thought, shifting his weight uncomfortably. One of his legs began to cramp, so he shifted his stance to stretch it out, and buried his icy fingers in his armpit. He glanced east and saw the faintest hint of blush in the silver of the road. Dawn, perhaps, come to unfurl itself in golden glory, with shining banners of magenta and vermilion and cerulean. Or... he watched the light brighten on the edge of the road east. There was slight reddish tinge to it, a molten quality that spoke of savage fires from within the earth. Our queen returns. He grinned. No man could hurl a missile across the narrow sea, not even a giant. But there were other things, things more wonderful and terrible, that could do even better. Then it continues on for several pages; Tyrion starts picking at the ice on the road with the other hand, then that gets too cold so he switches back. His other leg starts to cramp, so he stretches it. He imagines that the little flecks of ice on the road are Cersei and Jaime and everyone who ever laughed at him, and crushes them and melts them and imagines Cersei's bright green eyes popping as she screams and burns. Then he has to relieve his bladder so he finds a likely clump of bushes, then it starts to snow again so all his hard work boredly doodling with the road is undone. Then Dany finally shows up and she's like "hey Tyrion, I was scouting our rear and the Qartheen camels are closing in! I wanna give them fire and blood!" And Tyrion lists all the obscure historiography he knows about how dragons were used in combat against camels. ...though I dunno, if GRRM wrote that, I would still devour it and reread it so many times and try to work out all sorts of epic themes and parallels to the other plotlines. GRRM is such an amazing writer.

I might be in the minority here, but I loved the Tyrion chapters in Dance. It really has a classic adventure novel feel, similar to the Hobbit if Bilbo was completely deranged

I don't think the Jorah in the same brothel thing is that ridiculous. They are both foreigners from Westeros, both from aristocratic backgrounds, and both the kind of men who would be in a brothel. In a medieval type world no cities are the size of New York or Tokyo. London had the population of a small city, 80k, in 1300. There's a good chance men in their circumstance would wind up in the same establishment if they were in the same city.

its almost like grrm knew how fucked he was pre-ADWD.

Isn't Tyrion the most like George so logically it would be the easiest to write. I would think Bran would be harder as he said in the past

The significance of the mushrooms was that Trion was considering killing himself up until that point. then he decided he wanted to live and gave them to Nurse

First rule of writing that wealthy writers forget: "kill your babies" aka if you like something you wrote a lot make sure to cut it down because otherwise it's too long. Unfortunately good editing is inversely related to success.

I love how it's the characters fault, not the author 😂😂

Old George would have had Tyrion in Mereen by Tyrion 3, latest Tyrion 4. If George wrote Game of Thrones now, it would end with Ned just arriving in King’s Landing.

The scenery porn description kind of reminds me of the first Star Trek movie. A lot of big special effects shots that slowed the pace.

In Georges defence of Tyrion 1. GRRM had to do a lot of summarizing because the last Tyrion POV was two books a go, and released over a decade apart .

In other words, Preston's definition of Tyrion VII: golden toilet that doesn't flush I'll never forget that old but gold metaphor of his lmao

The way he said "last time on ice and fire" This man definitely watched Dragon Ball Z on toonami

I honestly skip all the Tyrion/Dany chapters and everything Essos on every reread of every book after ASoS and I don’t feel like I’m missing out on ANYTHING.

I love the videos preston! Never get to comment early on a video but we appreciate you so much! Keep up the good work!!

George has stated several times that Tyrion is the easiest character to write for and that “they seem to write themselves”

Its not nothing if people enjoy reading tyrion's chapters. Feels a bit redundant to say all those clever prose and lines are a waste of time just because it doesn't enhances the plot forward.

Hasn't george stated that he's already finished writing tyrion in Winds tho?

This is the first time I've seen your face on video Preston, don't know what I was expecting but still slightly surreal.

Only a third way through so this is subject to change, but I disagree overall with the sentiment of the vid. I love the ADWD Tyrion chapters, and I don’t mind GRRM moseying around in prose and exposition. All the while, Aegon is introduced, we learn Illyrio and Varys game, Jorah is introduced back into the story, we see slavers bay on the other side of mereen walls, and we’re about to converge with Victorian, Barristan, and Dany. I love it

Intro-Duck-tion

these kinds of ideas for videos is what makes your channel interestig keep it up

Tyrion chapters are amazing truly, but he is easily the PoV I care about the less or maybe the one I enjoy less, and this has been ever since I read the books 12 years ago and happens every time I read them again. Good luck with the fanfic, you can always go the Bran aDwD and Dany aCoK having very few chapters, or kill him lol.

I thought the idea was Duck was going to be the Duck to JonCon's Aeg...Dunk & Egg Mark 2...so giving hin an intro made sense

If Tyrion meandering in this book is rough, Preston would HATE a Wheel of Time

Tyrion is sooo annoying in Dance omg Knowing now that he's 18% of the book makes me understand why it's my least favourite in the series (which hits even harder since Feast is my favourite) Tyrion has some great moments but most of his chapters are such a snooze fest I like world building in general but did we really need all those chapters on the Shy Maid?

Tyrion’s story is spelled out in the cyvass game with Aegon. He will convince Daenerys to not rule with fire and blood (keep her dragon away), but this will lead to her not being accepted as queen (Aegon losing the game), she burns down Westeros (Aegon flips the board), and Tyrion is left picking up the pieces of the game he started, probably regretfully.

It’s really wild that the process of writing a book would actually *diminish* Preston’s understanding of what the point of a novel is.

I like this take reading it it felt like tyrions arch was just strange in a unexplainable way

Tyrion is my favorite part of a Dance with Dragons.

For Tyrion VII: The widow on the waterfront is testing Tyrion and Jorah as she doesn’t trust them at first. There are likely a lot of people in Volantis who want her dead. The altercation with Penny and the reaction Jorah and Tyrion have to her is very revealing of their characters. The widow realizes that Jorah’s dedication to Dany and Tyrion’s understanding of her cause are beneficial. So she helps them in the hope they help Dany make it to Volantis. Just my two cents.

Jorah is in that brothel because it's the brothel with the Danaerys look-alike

People who love Tyrion 3 Dance. "Are youd Duck pilled? Are you Duck billed? Are you Duck built?!?!. Uhhh I think so!" I've lost my mind.

I liked tyrion 7 but I am a sucker for the world building. The city came to life in my imagination so good work on grrm for his descriptions but I can see the point Preston is making.

This might be a hot take but I don't think the stories of feast and dance are worth telling, for the most part. Just like it wasn't worth telling the story of how littlefinger, jon arryn and others schemed in the years before game of thrones. Or daenerys and viserys were constantly moving escaping roberts assassins before khal drogo accepted a marriage. Or mance raider convincing the wildlings to fight for him. It's interesting sure, but it can be explained in a few sentences, or implied by a larger narrative. The first three books are masterpieces, great combinations of great settings and great writing. Just consider Robb's story in the first three books. A boy of 15 forces to take on a role he is not ready for yet when his father is imprisoned far away. He calls all of his fathers subjects. An intimidating and uncertain future lies ahead. Yet when he first faces a battle he proves to be an excellent strategist and suddenly there is hope for his family and his father. His father is executed and his bannermen proclaims him king. The war continues, he wins many battles but eventually he is betrayed by his allies and is slain during his uncles wedding. This is a great story no matter what universe it is set in, because of the initial tension, the stakes and the unsuspecting conclusion. There is no such story that would be easily told at the moment in a song of ice and fire. The story is slow and it is obviously impossible to describe the entire build up to the next war. It involves so many characters and so many details and plot points. Unfortunately that is what GRRM is doing and I think that is the reason why he can't finish the series. I have said for years now that a time skip is required. I said it even before GRRM told us that he originally planned a time skip. The problem is that there is no tension in the world between MAJOR players. Just consider how game of thrones started: - Jon Arryn is dead and Ned is going to be the next hand of the king - Daenerys has married Khal Drogo - The white walkers starts attacking the rangers of the north - Wildlings have united around one person, their new king mance raider Immediately there is plenty of tension between important people and families. Stark vs Lannister. Lannister and Arryn. Baratheon and Lannister. Targaryen and Baratheon. Wildlings and Starks. As mentioned the series is very slow paced so it is very important that the state of the world is at the tipping point for the story to be as engaging as possible. It is also much easier to write. The setting was so genius and interesting in fact that GRRM wrote the first three books in record pace, around 2 years each if I don't misremember. For such big books it is really impressive. That tension is what I wanted for the sequel of storm. Jon, Arya, Sam, Bran and others have all been training for 5 years in their respective fields. They are older, more experienced and wiser. Arya can use her faceless skills without needing to explain how. Jon is a better leader and better fighter and he has accomplished a lot. Stannis has consolidated power in the northern part of the north. The stakes across the world should be high, war should be imminent but not too imminent as we need a build up in the books. Wherever GRRM wants to go but finds it difficult to do just jump there in time. You don't need to explain everything in dreams or recollections, let some details be mysterious for a time. What Dorne has done, young griff etc.

You seem to be overlooking the part where we see a statue of Ilyrio from his youth and the wistful look he gave to the company because he wanted to see Aegon. I think this clues us into the realisation that Aegon is in fact his son.

Yeah I think the reason George is having trouble progressing is largely because a few POVs with very complex situations or that need intricate setup. Tyrion and Jaime need witty situations and thoughts for instance which isn't easy to come up with. I sometimes think the 5 year gap thing though it was clearly abandoned pretty early on; probably would have been good for the plot overall. I'd have gladly traded the suspension of my disbelief that things slowed down for a few years for a more streamlined plot. But I think that George didn't want to miss exploring details of John learning to be LC, Sansa becoming politically adept, etc. But instead now everything feels quite rushed. I wxpect if George finishes it in the next 2 books some plot threads will be abandoned. And honestly? That's just fine by me.

OMG PRESTY DROPPED WHEN IM ON BREAK AT WORK???? WE VIBING YALL

I do think that the point of these chapters is to show that tyrion is turning into exactly what everyone had been accusing him of. Kind of interesting and gives us a chance to notice details of set pieces that have not had a pov character in a long time. So not exactly plot necessary, but seems like the tyrion character arc needed this

I know it's a silly thing to say. But listening to preston I imagined he was about 22 years old. Weird to actually see him.

I read GRMM's books specifically for the eloquently written "useless trash" lol

So many strange takes in this video that I really don't agree with, specifically the takes about Tyrion's chapters not containing much. Yeah, Tyrion 1 is long, but it's a recap, which you acknowledge. It's also supposed to demonstrate his drastic personality shift from Storm of Swords: He's so much more nihilistic and just straight up EVIL. Obviously the events of ASoS have had a major impact on him, and in order for us to see that we need a lot of page time. We also haven't spent any time with Illyrio since book 1, so I think the time spent with him is very interesting. Then we meet Duck and Haldon, and spend a lot of time on Duck's back-story, which you object to and compare him to Jory. Again, I have a lot of issues with this comparison. The purpose of Jory's arc is to establish an extremely loyal, trustworthy companion to Ned, and to then kill him off as the first major casualty of the conflict. This moment is the first shocking death of the story, and shows us that shit is getting real VERY fast. On the other hand, Duck is very much alive and could still absolutely play a massive role in the coming story as fAegon's most trusted soldier/kingsguard. Just because he hasn't shown up much so far doesn't mean he won't in the future. If he was killed in Dance then yeah, I'd agree with you, but it's just way too early to say that he doesn't have a large enough role to warrant the large amount of backstory that we get. If anything, I'd say it indicates that he's going to be quite important in Winds. Then, on the Shy Maid, SO much exposition happens: we're introduced two new, massively consequential characters: fAegon and Jon Con, plus Septa Lemore whose true identity remains a mystery. There's also a lot of great worldbuilding: we get some insight as to what sort of education is given to a would-be ruler, and learn a ton about Volantis and the Rhoyne. Not sure who you're talking to, but these Tyrion chapters are some of my faves in the book. Then Tyrion is abducted by Jorah, and they have some great, entertaining dynamics. We meet another great character: The Widow of the Waterfront, and get to see Volantis for the first time. It's especially important to have a PoV in Volantis to establish the location in the reader's mind because it's going to play a massive role in WoW in the fight against Dany. Then we get to see what it's like to be captured and sold into slavery, which, again, we haven't seen before, and we also see what a broken man Jorah has become. I mean, sure, we don't get a ton of raw action, but there is just so much worldbuilding that happens in Tyrion's chapters that make them absolutely fascinating. Up until these chapters, the only glimpse we get of Essos is through Dany and the small chunk of it that she travels through. As someone who appreciates worldbuilding, I absolutely love these chapters.

The Widow wants Volantis to support Daenerys. She denies Jorah and Tyrion at first because she mistrusts Jorah, and thinks he is a sellsword out to kill Daenerys. After Penny tries to kill Tyrion, the Widow finds out about the bounty on his head and realizes that Jorah really does intend to help Daenerys; if he was motivated by self-interest, then he would have killed Tyrion himself. She therefore decides to send them along. It's clumsy but maybe it works?

I think GRRM saw what D&D did with Tyrion in the last couple of seasons of GoT and is probably going above and beyond to make sure that doesn’t happen in the books

I got to disagree somewhat. I highly enjoy Tyrion and Illyrio talking in the wagon. I find this highly intriguing. Almost like a small council meeting. Am I my way off?

Tbh Preston I think George is slowing down George's writing

If Ilyrio is a black fire and Griff is his son, and Ilyrio had Danys and Viserys for a while, you’d think he would introduce them to griff or intermarry them.

I like the Tyrion Travel log tbh. I'd like to naturally see more of Essos

I love Tyrion's chapters, with Danny's they're actually those I remember the best from my first ADwD read.

I think with Tyrion starting books of serving as a narrator with this great out word scope of the world and the conflicts can be contrasted in the next book with him being in the chaos of a battle as a turn cloak, in a political dynamic in Mereen he’s ignorant of, and is stuck reacting out of his element as suppose to playing cyvass with people and powers. Idk just my thought on the matter when looking over info on the sample chapters.

"Every time that Jory isn't on the page, people should be asking 'Hey - where's Jory?'

Tyrion is the darling that GRRM must kill. No fan would dare to do that.

It's always the dwarf's fault.