Yes, our watch has ended

Hello! Manu and I (Andrew) decided that as much as we enjoyed podcasting together, this show officially won't be coming back. As you likely already know, Manu's busy enough running through the ASOIAF books on the NotACast with our pal Emmett and you probably already enjoy his work there anyway!

It's been almost three years since our last recording, which was a special on the 10th anniversary of GoT's premiere. Our last podcast that fit the definition of the original scene-by-scene goal of this show was all the way back in September 2019. We had been planning for a guest to come on for the October recording and the start of "The Night Lands" (season 2, episode 2), but we had to take a few rain checks for various reasons. So we never got it going again, and then when the pandemic hit, we had different things on our minds.

Is it a little silly to do a post-mortem on a podcast with a relatively small audience in the first place, not to mention years after it was likely long-assumed dead? You bet. But the real purpose of this "announcement" is to note that we will no longer be paying hosting fees on Libsyn. So if you want to access any of our archived episodes, you can feel free to download them off our Google Drive here.

I've made the folder public via the link, so if you have any interest in them whatsoever, you should be able to download them. If you run into any problems, feel free to email the old podcast email address, asceneoficeandfire at Gmail.

We had a lot of fun doing this as part of the wider Thrones community. Thank you so much for tuning in, whenever you did.

PS: Don't forget that you can still listen to Manu talk about Thrones on the NotACast! And both of us will probably be tweeting about ASOIAF in some way, shape, or form until The Dumb CEO breaks that site.

PPS: Play us out, Gendry.

Ep. 69: The 10-Year Anniversary Special

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It's been a minute, hasn't it? Andrew and Manu are back on the podcast airwaves for the first since, well, a pandemic began to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the premiere of "Game of Thrones" on HBO.

Personal lives have prevented the podcast from returning in full (though we still hope to eventually!), but we had a lot of fun taking 75 minutes to look back on how we first got into "Thrones," and many more topics -- favorite moments, episodes, and castings & characters. We also took some time to discuss how we've reckoned with the most frustrating aspects of the end of the series, and how we hope that audiences don't dismiss so many good memories from the show just because of its conclusion. Not everything's about "sticking the landing."

At the end, we look toward the future and all the prequel possibilities in the works, most notably "House of the Dragon," which will come to a Home Box Office near you in 2022. Wherever there be dragons (or even just Westerosi lore), we will follow.

• Manu has a new Metal Gear Solid podcast, Podcast Sans Frontieres!
• Manu on the Not a Podcast's "Clash of Kings" finale, Bran VII
• Manu's Twitter thread of top 30 "Thrones" moments
• Andrew's baseball writing, and Disney blog that's running through the Disney Animated Classics in order
• Just because: Jaime fookin' Lannister (since we both love the bath confession scene so much)
• iTunes link

Ep. 68: Joffrey Did a Super Bad Thing

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It's a King's Landing party for the latest podcast, as Andrew and Manu continue the season 2 premiere. Tyrion and Shae discuss the dangers of King's Landing, Cersei asserts her power over Littlefinger in trying to locate Arya, and Joffrey subsequently turns the tables on Cersei by threatening her after she smacks him for a rude comment about Robert's affairs.

The worst part comes at the end of the episode, when Joffrey has all of Robert's bastards brutally executed (unlike in the books, where Cersei does it; more on that in the podcast), save for one smith's apprentice, who happens to be traveling with Arya on the way to The Wall. Wuddya know!

Don't worry, Stannis Crew, we have a special episode coming very soon on everything surrounding his introduction to the series.

• iTunes link

Ep. 67: Robb the King

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"The North Remembers" continues with the two eldest remaining Stark men (not counting the AWOL Benjen). Jon and the Night's Watch have arrived at Craster's Keep, and it turns out that dude is a real incestuous shithead! You hate to see it. He gets a tough lesson from Jeor Mormont about why they're working with such a detestable dude, but it leaves us plenty of room to critique.

Further south, Robb and his Northern army are deciding their next best course of action. He sends the Lannister cousin Alton back to King's Landing to give Joffrey & Cersei his terms, which are understandably steep. Then, much to Catelyn's chagrin, he listens to Theon's suggestion of sending him to try to align with his father, Balon Greyjoy. This will not end well.

There are some great nuggets in here about Robb and Jon (to a lesser extent) asserting themselves in leadership roles. Tune in.

• iTunes link

Ep. 66: Follow the Red Comet Road

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Andrew and Manu roll along in their second podcast on "The North Remembers," where the red comet that tracks everyone throughout the episode first seen over Bran, who is presiding as acting lord of Winterfell with Luwin and Osha close by. We see how he's growing and dealing with the new responsibilities, as well as his first exposure to wolf dreams.

A world away, Daenerys and the Dothraki also hover under the red comet, but it's just about the furthest thing from their minds. Survival in the Red Waste is proving to be an arduous task, but an intriguing podcast topic (#congrats to us, I guess). Starvation is a brutal enemy. Dany sends her bloodriders off in different directions to find some hope.

• Emilia Clarke's New Yorker piece on battling brain aneurysms throughout season 2 filming; she is tougher than all of us combined
• iTunes link

Ep. 65: "There is Work to be Done"

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At long last, it's come time for Andrew and Manu to hit the books on Game of Thrones season 2. Expectations were high on the show following a breathtaking initial run that ended in shock with the death of Ned Stark. The sophomore season shows the aftermath of this turn of events, as kings rise and fall throughout the Seven Kingdoms while trying to truly take control of Westeros. The second book of the series is called "A Clash of Kings" for a reason.

We begin in King's Landing, where Joffrey is sadistically enjoying his name day with some casual violence and we see how the captive Sansa to trying to maintain her dignity in this tough situation. Joffrey's smiles turn to unease when Tyrion marches in with Bronn and the Hill Tribes, and he quickly takes the leading seat of the Small Council as Acting Hand of the King, much to Cersei's chagrin.

Thus begins Peter Dinklage's absolute tour de force of this season of Game of Thrones. To paraphrase Michael Jordan, "we're back."

• iTunes link

Ep. 64.6: A Time for Wolves

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Andrew and Manu reach the end of road of one part of their journey. "Game of Thrones" aired its finale, "The Iron Throne" on Sunday, and offered a glimpse at the new future of Westeros. This is definitely a time to reflect on how fascinating characters like Arya, Daenerys, Sansa, Tyrion, Jon, Brienne, and more wrapped up their arcs.

We touched on pretty much every major plot point of the finale before offering some last thoughts. Of course, you're not done with us just yet. (At least we hope you're not!) Soon, we'll jump back in time and begin our normal scene-by-scene coverage of season 2.

We can't wait and we can't thank you enough for joining us in our journeys through the final season.

• Sean Collins and Joanna Robinson on the comparisons between the Iron Throne and the One Ring
• Kim Renfro on Sansa's remarkably detailed Queen in the North coronation dress
• Register with the discount code "Manu" for Con of Thrones (Nashville, July 12-14)
• iTunes link