‘The Watchers on the Wall’ is the ninth and penultimate episode of the fourth season of HBO’s fantasy television series Game of Thrones, and the 39th overall.
The episode begins with one of those typical reversals of sexual reality. Conversing on a cold night between bonfires very close to the Wall, Ygritte tells another of the band of wildlings that she had killed more people in Mole’s Town than him: a tough warrior who is even a cannibal. And worst of all, just as male warriors fight verbally in camps, after the cannibal says unkind things to Ygritte, she gets up and confronts him even though the sturdy cannibal is much taller than the very slim woman.
We then see a conversation about love and women in the Castle Black library between Sam and Aemon.
Aemon is the Maester at Castle Black and the most important advisor in the Night’s Watch. (The actor who played Aemon’s character died at ninety-three in December 2016, which means that he didn’t get to see the last seasons.) He was born Aemon Targaryen and was the last known Targaryen in Westeros. He is the great-uncle of Dany and, unbeknownst to him, the great-great uncle of Jon Snow. Aemon’s origins have long been forgotten by most, as he remained dedicated to his vows as a Maester and a brother of the Night’s Watch for many decades.
The rest of the episode lacks scenes for this critique of feminism, although they had to film the moment when Ygritte died in the arms of Jon Snow during their failed assault on Castle Black. What old Aemon could have said to Sam about love and women would have been far more interesting than this typical cheesy Hollywood scene.
4 replies on “The watchers on the Wall”
Caesar,
I recently came across a conundrum that I would like to have resolved but you did not cover this topic since your posts on the Lebensraum, so I will ask it here, even though it is unrelated: Does having brown hair and brown eyes automatically disqualify you from being an Aryan?
I ask this because my father–whom, as I have said in earlier posts, is blonde-haired and blue-eyed–has recently done genetic testing and extensive genealogic research going back 600 years. In his search, he has not found a single ancestor in his direct lineage who is a mudblood. The furthest south his family has originated was Northern France, and even still this is only in trace amounts. However, he has only scant instances of Nordic blood. 90% of his blood comes from England, Scotland and Ireland. The genealogic research compounds with this as no records show any existence of a half-breed nigger or redskin within his direct lineage. Despite this, there are several members of his direct family–including my grandfather–who are brown-haired and brown-eyed.
Of course, learning this has been extremely upsetting as I now know my father has corrupted his untainted blood–albeit unknowingly–by procreating with my mother. However, I would like to find solace in the possibility that at least half my family are pure Aryans.
Have you read the appendix in The Fair Race, ‘The New Racial Classification’ by Evropa Soberana?
Caesar,
I must humbly admit that I have not. I have acquired a new job that is very demanding at the beginning of the New Year and have had little time for rest let alone to read. I will read it when I get the chance.
Sorry for the naive questions, I should know better than to comment here before reading TFRDH. I have read the required readings on your pinned post though.
At least read the abstract: here.