Preston Winter

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

It’s commonly asserted that A Song of Ice and Fire is a product of nihilism, but is there any truth to this claim? Check out my latest Substack article where I dispute this often-repeated point.

https://t.co/bSEe7Vhvki

[Quinn The GM @quinnthegm]

I'd almost forgotten, today is the 15th anniversary of my favorite ASOIAF book, A DANCE WITH DRAGONS! 🐉

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

There’s a lot of talk about the “God-Emperor Bran” hypothesis, but “God-Emperor Dany” would be interesting to see imo

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@alicentrapist @valryia Yeah I mean I honestly didn’t put much thought in it, just rattled off a dozen things while my coffee was brewing yesterday. I completely left out Ned, Sam, Arya, Dany, and Jon lol

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@alicentrapist @valryia https://t.co/5W0PiKR2Q9

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

“GRRM hates heroism” is such a strange take, that I wonder if those pushing are reading the same series. Let’s compile just a brief list of a few heroic moments from ASOIAF:

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@valryia Agreed. I was focusing mostly on martial heroism, but GRRM arguably has more non-combat related heroism than combat-related. Cat, for example, is incredibly heroic in her pursuit of justice for Bran, guiding Robb, and in bearing the unimaginable tragedies she goes through.

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@lwagner2124 Truth Nuke. I could’ve made a whole thread just out of the non-physical or combat related moments of heroism.

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@lwagner2124 Truth Nuke. I could’ve made a whole thread just out of the non-physical or combat related moments of heroism.

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

“GRRM hates heroism” is such a strange take, that I wonder if those pushing are reading the same series. Let’s compile just a brief list of a few heroic moments from ASOIAF:

[*The* American Nerevarine. @TheAmiNereVar]

It shows a man that hates heroes because he failed to be one. He mocks heroism, valor, honor, virtue& nobility. A man so obsessed with history that history can only exist in total & absolute stagnation. It shows someone who wholly rejects moral good.

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@Cyclical_invest I don’t think this is accurate. Tywin wins a short term victory through cynicism and cruelty but he’s then killed by the son he abused and his entire legacy crumbles. Ned, on the other hand, lives on through his children and the loyal bannermen still carrying his cause.

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@Iska_dr1 Part of it is also the way Storm is split into two seasons, so S3 ends on such a bleak note. At least in Storm, after the Red Wedding, both Joffrey and Tywin are killed, Stannis saves the NW, and Jon becomes Lord Commander

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@nobletimon I’d be curious to hear an argument

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@Iska_dr1 Even the Red Wedding was made to be more grim. Telisa killed in an unnecessarily brutal way. And Robb was elevated to the status of almost a main character, making his death even worse. In the books, he was just a side character that disappeared for almost all of Clash

[bowser boy @yadisdis]

@PrestonWintArch "Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing. She had no chance against seven, she knew. No chance, and no choice. She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand."

[Tidewater Whig @TDomhnaill]

@TheAmiNereVar Cool, so I'm sure you'll have no difficulty producing said quotes.

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@shmowderfan @FlyerDie “She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand.” The slow burn and subtly of AFFC is something to behold

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

@Bluethorn0110 Fair enough lol like you said I am more or less responding to a broader argument I see pop up all the time

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

This is an incomplete list that mostly focuses on martial virtue and heroism, but there is so much more and I couldn’t possibly list it all if I tried. Truth is, Martin loves heroism and knows a bleak world needs virtuous people who act forthrightly in spite of it

[Preston Winter @PrestonWintArch]

Stannis marching on Winterfell despite the brutal conditions to liberate it from the Boltons.