 What's up guys? So we did this video and it ended up running really long. It was almost two hours. So we broke it into two parts. So the second part is live now also. So it will be in the description or I'll also link it right up here. So let's go. Game of Thrones season one. Histories and lore, the complete collection and high definition. OK, so apparently this thing was included with the DVDs. I don't know how true that is. Let us know. In the dawn age of Westeros, before the coming of man and the raising of castles and cities, there were only the children of the forest. Little is known of them now, but it is said they were small in stature, dark and beautiful, and no taller than children when grown to manhood. They lived in the depths of the forests and hidden villages, crannies and caves. They hunted with weird bows and armed themselves with blades of obsidian. Their wise men were called green seers and were possessed of a powerful magic. They worshiped nameless, faceless gods of the forest, stream and stone. According to legend, it was they who carved faces in the great white trunks of the majestic weirwoods. Oh, OK. I already knew that. Twelve thousand years ago, the first men came from the eastern continent, crossing a land bridge called the Arm of Dawn. Riding their great horses and wielding weapons of bronze, they cut down the children's forests and weirwoods. A terrible war raged between the children and the first men that lasted for centuries. At long last, the two races sought an end to the years of horror and bloodshed. They met on a small isle in the centre of a great lake called the God's Eye. It was there they forged the pact. The first men would be granted dominion over the coastlands, the mountains, the high plains and the bogs, but the deep forest would forever belong to the children. And no weirwoodry would ever again fall to man's eye. Why do my spacebar not pause it? OK, so in the very beginning, like if we want to go way back as back as back goes, there was the children of the forest, right? They said that even growing into adulthood, they grew no taller than children. Yeah, and they were dark and little. And beautiful. Oh, and beautiful. And apparently they were the ones who carved the faces into the weirwood trees, which I said I already knew that because someone told me in the comments because I'd asked. I said someone please tell me what this cool tree is in the intro. And someone explained to me that. But when I read the comment, it didn't really like it was a good comment, but it didn't click the way that the illustration did, obviously. So we're going way back. And then so man came and said the people of Dorne, which we've heard Dorne a few times. The arm of Dorne. So they came from the east on a landmass, something like that. Maybe an ancient landmass that doesn't exist anymore. Like it gravitated and like turning like this. Underwater now. Oh, okay. So, but we heard Dorne a few times. So I'm thinking that's like Dorne's like the first settlement. Now, what would you say like Dorne's Dorne is in relation to like Europe? Well, Europe is not. You got to go a lot further back in Europe. If you want to like make a relevant comparison to Dorne, Dorne would be like Mesopotamia in a way. Okay. Well, I'm thinking of like, you know how you kind of are thinking like Westeros is like where we are now kind of. In the west. Westeros and then in the west. And then SO says the east. Yeah. So I'm thinking where's Dorne in relation, I guess. So I'm just trying to figure out where that is like geographically. But okay. Right. It's kind of, I see like they sort of use like real life parallels in that way. And then so apparently they came into conflict and they eventually reached an agreement because I saw them shaking hands and men was granted basically dominion over what you would call like the modern world, I guess. And then the children of the forest went like north. Maybe it seems like. So maybe they're wildlings, the sort of wildlings. Maybe. Love it. Space worrying and working. Seal the pact before the gods. The children carved a face and everywhere would trail the island. Which came to be known as the Isle of Faces. But the pact could not withstand the coming of the Andals. A race of tall, fair-haired warriors. They attacked with fire and weapons of steel. Slaughtering the children of the forest wherever they could find them. And out there where it would grow. Hacking away at the faces of the old gods. And spreading their own religion through the land. Centuries of war followed. And the Andals conquered every kingdom in western. Save one. The north. The kings of winter were able to withstand the Andal invasion. And descendants of the first men dwell there to this day. And continue to worship the old gods. As for the children of the forest. Those who survived the slaughter were said to have fled far north. And have not been seen again. Most assume they're long dead. And some don't believe they ever existed. They live on only through song and legend. And in the faces of the Weirwood trees. Crazy. And then eventually when the men came. The Andals. They pushed everyone north. And so that's why the waddling they caught in the show was saying that they still worship the old gods. Right. And they said all the Andals took over all the kingdoms of the north. Who still worship the old gods. There's like every character we've met in the story. You know almost every character. You know everyone that's just like I guess modern who live south of the wall. They're all basically descendants of Andals who came and pushed the wild. Because you know how they always other the wildlings they always make them out to be another. They are the ones who pushed them there originally. Right. And in one of the first episodes they said that wildlings don't look much different than us. Because they're probably not much different. They're probably just the same way we look at like Americans look at Canadians. And they're like oh they live north they're Canadian. Right. It's probably the same thing. Right. Except you know we don't want to go to war. That was good. That was crazy. When Aegon the Conqueror invaded Westeros he had seven kingdoms to contend with. We'll wait till all things over time. The Kingdom of the North. The Kingdom of the Mountain and the Vale. The Iron Islands. The Kingdom of the Rock. The Kingdom of the Reach. The Stormlands. And Dawn. The Age of Heroes. The Age of Heroes. One hero of this fabled age was Bran the Builder. Bran raised the wall and built the stronghold of Winterfell. Establishing house Stark and reigning as the first king in the north. Other legends tell of the Grey King in the Iron Islands. Grey King took a mermaid to wife and defeated Naga, the first sea dragon. House Greyjoy of Pyke. The current rulers of the region claim to descend from him. House Casterly ruled the gold rich Westerlands from their mighty seat of Casterly Rock. But their lands and power were swindled from them by the legendary trickster, Land the Clever. The noble house of Lannister is said to have descended from him. The verdant and fertile lands of the Reach were first ruled by House Gardener. His founder, known as Garth Greenhand, were a crown of flowers and vines. He ruled from Highgarden as the first king of the Reach and was said to have made the land bloom. Many noble houses traced their bloodlines back to him. Including the current lords of Highgarden, House Tyrrell. In the Stormlands, according to ballads of your age, Aurea named Doran fell in love with Elinai. His father was god of the sea and mother was goddess of the wind. She gave her maiden head to him, committing herself to a mortal life. In rage, her parents called upon the winds and waters, destroying Doran's bayside keep and wiping out his wedding guests. Doran declared war on the gods and rebuilt his keep, which was also destroyed. Four more castles he raised, each stronger than the last. All fell to the power of the gods. But Doran's seventh castle, Storm's End, withstood the gods' rage. He made seven castles? Doran became known as Doran Godsgrief and reigned as the first Storm King. There are countless other tales from the Age of Heroes, too many to count. These histories weren't recorded in a book, but passed down from generation to generation through story and song. And while some of them may be dismissed as fairy tales, every one of the Seven Kingdoms is defined by them. Basically, that was the Age of Heroes, and it just said how all the Seven Kingdoms came to be. So the only ones I really noted were Aegon the Conqueror, which we've heard him, he's Targaryen. Bran the Builder, which is the first king in the north, he's the one who made Winterfell. The king in the north, what else? And then the Great King was the Greyjoy, and they were destroyed in Naga, which was like a sea monster. And then Casterly, which is Casterly Rock, where the Lannisters are from. Land the Clever was the one that was named after. So you know how basically the Lannisters are just very corrupt and shady? Cause they're tricksters. Land the Clever started that job. And then so the Reach, which we haven't heard much about other than Loris Tyrell is in it. And the thing about Loris Tyrell that I noticed is he said he was rich, not as rich as the Lannisters, but very rich, remember? He told Wrenley that. So I'm wondering like how that is going to take into play. But anyways, they rule from Highgarden. And the one who created that is Garth Greenhand. And then the Stormsend, I didn't really like that one was kind of like along, but that was with the seven castles or whatever. And his name was Doran. That one was a little like long. I didn't really get too much of that one. But let's hear. Yeah, we're watching back for sure. We'll see these couple of times where they come out. Basically what is screaming to me is by the time the series is over, we're going to be introduced to a lot of characters. A lot of complex characters. And we're like already knowing like because we've heard them talk about like, we've heard them talk about these characters a few times and they're even naming some of their kids after them. Like Brand's name is Brand after Brand the Builder. Interesting. What the hell? Whoa. What the hell? Oh wow. Hmm. Wow. Right. What the hell? Dang. Okay. That one was nuts. Yeah, I really liked that. That was the best one so far. So, okay, what do we got? Okay. The Smoking Sea, which was like. Absolutely. They said no one could cross that. There's a ton of these. And then there was the Valyrians used to be shepherds, right? Yep. Then the Fourteen Fires, which was created by dragons, which introduced magic. Right. They wiped the Ghiscari people off the face of the earth. And then once they did that, the Valyrian people became the most advanced civilization and they were called Freehold. The people were called the Freehold. They ruled for 5,000 years. And then the Doom collapsed them all. And the only people who survived the Doom were the Targaryens of Dragonstone. Yeah, so they went to this little place called Dragonstone, waited for 100 years before they went and eventually attacked Westeros. Pretty crazy. I'm seeing a lot of parallels between like the Lost City of Atlantis, for example. Yeah, yeah, yeah. An ancient cataclysm, which humbled a very, it seemed like a very cocky civilization. So that's very interesting too. You know, there's always that thought that if a civilization gets ahead of itself. What appears to me, I don't know if it's the magical spells and all that stuff that allowed them to create like the most advanced civilization of all time. Or if it was just the fact that having dragons for 5,000 years created 5,000 years of like dominance, which costs like a piece internally. And did that give you parallels to nowadays, like with nuclear weapons? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So we're allowed ultimately to like prosper and grow and continue to expand and stuff like that, you know, not expand, that sounds dumb, but you guys know what I'm saying. We're just allowed to basically prosper and do and have trade across the world and have a stable economy to an extent because of the fact that like we have a very advanced nuclear arsenal, aka dragons. So, you know, but a lot of countries have dragons these days, which keeps the world kind of stable. But in a world like this where one country seems to have all of them, they dominated the world basically for 5,000 years. So yeah, very interesting. That was good. Nice watch. The history of the nice watch by Lord Commander. George's dad. Let's go. He's Targaryen, right? Oh, yeah. Wait, wait, wait, babe. Can you pause it for one second? Do you think the reason why the reason why that Valyrian is still so important is because it's from Valyria. This ancient civilization that ruled for 5,000 years. Probably. So that's why it's so rare. And they probably was probably forged from like dragons fired and they can't get it anymore. Right. Okay. So that's why it's so rare. I got you. I just wouldn't point that out because I did remember that name. Which is cool. That kind of just made me think of vibranium. Yeah. Kind of was like that. Yeah. Yeah. Shout out. The roots of the channel. You know what I'm saying? It shall not end until my death. Straight up. Take no wife. Hold no lands. Father. No children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die. My post. Well, I can't imagine taking a wife. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch for this night and all the nights to come. Legend tells of a winter that lasted a generation and of a vast and terrible darkness that fell across the land. It came to be known as the Long Night. The Long Night boy. In the midst of this darkness, the White Walkers emerged from the far north. With their armies of the dead, they waged war against the living. Evil. They faced villages and hold fasts, leaving terror and destruction in their wake. After years of brutal conflict and unbearable loss. Bro. The alliance of the first men. I just had a, maybe this means nothing. You know how they just showed all those heads on pikes and stuff? Dude, they're talking about White Walkers. Do you think Joffrey is going to become a White Walker? Because of just like the parallels between them liking to put people's heads on pikes? Spikes, first of all. No, pikes. I thought it was called spikes. When you put someone's head. I might be wrong, but isn't it called putting someone's head on a pike? I thought it was your head on a spike. Well, I mean, I could be wrong. Most of the time when I disagree with you, I'm wrong. So, yeah. But I don't know. He likes to put head on spikes. Okay. He likes to put head on spikes. I don't know, but wait a minute. Well, you know how they just said they had the doom? Yeah. And we have the long, is the doom and the long night the same thing or no? No, the doom was a cataclysmic event. The long night. So this is a different time? The long night is just the way that this planet, because this is a fantasy planet, right? The, the astrological alignment of this planet just happens to be that their, their seasons just rotate like that. Like, I guess like every like, you know, every generation, so every like 150 years or so or 100 years, whatever a generation is considered. But it seems like it just, that's just what happens. Oh, just like a reset? Right, yeah. Well, no, it just seems like the way the planet rotates around, you know, they could have like a multiple star planetary system, you know, and maybe their planet rotates through like multiple stars and the way that it aligns, it happens that like every once in a while, you know, there's 200 years of darkness or something, you know, it's just like every, every planet isn't going to operate like ours. It takes so long, it becomes like a story to them. You know how our planet has four seasons in a, in a 20, it's just our cycle, but every planet is going to have a different type of cycle. Gotcha. And so this planet just happens to be this way. Alright, sorry, it's not right. Okay, let's go. 700 feet in height. How did they do that? Yeah. Oh, I hate that. Yeah. The builders and the stewards. While all black brothers needed to take up steel, should the need arise, the Rangers are the true warriors of the watch. Centuries, common gone. And although the white walkers have yet to return, another threat has emerged. Barbarian tribes known as Wildlings. The Rangers are charged with defending the realm against these lawless savages. The builders are carpenters, masons, miners and woodsmen, tasked with maintaining the wall, as well as its various keeps, towers and structures, which have fallen into disrepair over the years. The stewards serve as cooks, butchers and hunters. They tend to the horses and messenger ravens, so clothing gather firewood and bring supplies up from the south. The Night's Watch is a diverse group. Proud volunteers from noble houses stand side by side with petty thieves conscripted from dungeons. Class distinctions are left behind as are past misdeeds. A man gets what he earns on the wall. And even the lowliest gutter snipe can rise up in rank if he proves himself worthy. For thousands of years, the brothers of the Night's Watch have stood their lonely vigil. As the seasons changed, as brutal wars raged in the south, as dynasties rose and fell, the Night's Watch endured. We are the swords in the darkness. We are the watchers on the wall. We are the shields that guard the realms of men. Okay, so my first thoughts about that, guys, was the wall really does serve, which goes to show how brilliant the show is, but it goes to serve as like a modern representation. It goes to show as like a modern example and representation of like, just modern civilization in a way. You know, the wall is really like a place in this universe where class systems don't really seem to exist. It's the only place where, you know, it's kind of like modern life, you know, we're all sort of like trapped in it, we're all sort of enslaved to it in a way, you know, we all have to just work to make do and there's really no escaping it. And, you know, the only way out is death, really. So, but at the same time, you know, I meet people of all kinds of stripes, backgrounds, wealth, brackets, you know what I'm saying? It's just like modern life really. The wall does a good job of serving as a place for people to go who really just find themselves not fitting in and just like this class. Cast out all that family stuff. All the kingdom, all the realm, all the family, all the titles. Yeah, exactly. And so I don't know, maybe I'm looking at the wall a little different now. And you know, something I really like is how they're using the same language like a man gets what he earns. You know, I like how they're using the same language. You know what, I did notice that they said the wall was 700 feet, which they're suggesting that either giants or magic help build it. Right, something. So they're saying it's like not, it was not an easy task. And it's very ancient. It seems like. Yeah. And then basically all, all I got in notes wise was the class systems and then wildlings, which were basically the Rangers are the ones protecting us from the wildlings, they say. And they're very barbaric. And you know that one girl didn't seem that bad though that they captured the little wild girl. Yeah, Osha. I mean, she might, I don't know, she might slit her throat though, you know. I mean, she would, they did attempt to all alone in the dark woods or whatever she then. Yeah, but I've seen lots of men from King's Landing that would do the same. Not worse. So, you know, and they're not from the north. So. Joining the Night's Watch or taking the black is a singular honor for any northerner. For it was in the north some 8,000 years ago that the first man drove back the white walkers, erected the wall and established the sworn brotherhood that would guard the realm of its people from the dangers beyond. Regrettably, the Night's Watch no longer commands the widespread respect and admiration it once did. That's what I'm saying, bro. Why how stark and other houses in the northern regions continue to recognize its vital importance to the safety and stability of the realm. This view is not shared by the powerful houses of the southern kingdoms or the subjects. Most regard the Watch as a misguided obsolete order made up of useless outcasts. Admittedly, the current Night's Watch is a shadow of its former glory. The numbers have dwindled to less than a thousand. Of the 19 castles along the wall, only three are functional. The Shadow Tower, Castle Black and East Watch by the sea. And the Watch's mandate of adding to the wall has been abandoned entirely. There are barely enough resources to maintain it. Recruiting officers, known as Wondering Crows, scar the dungeons and slums of the realm in hope of finding men to fill the ranks. Sorry, I just want to look at this one. The Shadow Tower, Castle Black and East Watch by the sea. Okay, so they keep saying in the show you're going to East Watch, so that's by the Bay of the Sea. No, they remember they say they're taking the Black all the time. That means to go to the Castle Black. But I keep hearing the word East Watch. There's East Watch just by the Bay of the Seas. That's all obviously to the east. That's where that boy got sent whenever. Yeah, I know what you're saying. Okay, so that's the north. This is the Frost Spings. Okay, I'm saying. So they said all the resources got taken away from those. So basically they don't exist anymore. There's so few resources that there's an abandoned tower. And the Watch's mandate of adding to the wall has been abandoned entirely. There are barely enough resources to maintain it. Recruiting officers, known as Wondering Crows, scar the dungeons and slums of the realm in hope of finding men to fill the ranks. While there is still the occasional high-born volunteer, the newest recruits are almost entirely made up of lowly criminals. Thieves, rapists, and murderers sentenced to the wall as punishment for their crimes. The decline of this once fabled order is troubling, as the danger it guards against is all too real. While the white walkers haven't been seen or heard from in ages, and may very well be the stuff of myth, barbarian tribes that dwell beyond the wall, known as wildlings, have been a menace to the north and its people for generations. At certain points in history, the disparate wildling tribes have united behind a single leader, a king beyond the wall, and attempted large-scale attacks against the realm. But thanks to the resourceful and courageous men of the Night's Watch, these so-called kings were soundly defeated. While many have lost faith in the Night's Watch, the people of the north are steadfast in their belief that the Black Brothers will answer the call of duty. But with winter coming, diminished numbers, and a lack of widespread support, will they be ready? Basically, on that one, we know what's up. We know that one a lot. Well, let me just pause real quick. The one thing that I do want to say about that one, guys, that's worth saying is, you see once again just another layer of this story that's so well-thought-out and brilliant, you know? The occasional high-born will pledge their allegiance to the wall, but it's mostly made of scouring dungeon criminals and rapists and things like that. And the only people who respect it are the Starks. Well, yeah, yeah. Their house always respects it. Well, that's just like in real life, too. And that's why Benjen is the first ranger, because the Starks respect them, and the Starks is the first ranger. There's so many parallels from society in this. Even with the thing about, you know, of course people in the South aren't going to care about the wall. They're not by it. They're not directly affected by it. But the people in the North actually have to deal with the White Walkers coming and trying to kill them. So it just goes to show that, it just goes to show that the more South you get, the more like, you know what I'm trying to say? Like you forget about that stuff. It's a really cool world. It's emerged from beneath the icy ground and spread darkness and despair across the land. Astride their monstrous spiders flanked by giants, they wreaked havoc on the innocent, slaughtering thousands. All hope was lost until the fearless warriors of the first Night's Watch drove them back into the Wintery Mountains and built a magic wall to keep them from ever invading again. These stalwart brothers in black continue to protect us even to this day from the evils that lurk in the shadows. An absurd lie. A fairy tale spun by many a wet nurse in the North. To be sure, a giant wall does exist. A triumph of engineering perhaps, but not of magic. As for the Night's Watch, there may have been a time centuries ago when there was prestige and honour in the miserable monastic life of a black brother. Just not mess with it. The wall has become a glorified penal colony full of outcasts, criminals and assorted ne'er-do-wells. Today, a typical man of the Night's Watch most likely started out a lowly beggar or a rapist or a village idiot. As for the few high-born watchmen, they either fought on the losing side of a war or were disowned by their parents for one reason or another. Those who persist in defending the Night's Watch will claim the Seven Kingdoms need protection from the wildling tribes of the far North. But there's little to fear from those primitives. They're a nuisance, but not sophisticated or powerful enough to be a significant threat to the realm. And any talk of white walkers returning with their armies of the dead and their giant spiders and their snarks is just that. Talk. Okay, doesn't believe. But you know, that's just like in the show. The Lannisters are from the South and they have that attitude. And you know, he expressed the same opinion in the show. So, you know, he's a Lannister, so he's biased. But as we know, they're sending a hand to King Joffrey. So I'm really excited to see what his face looks like when he realizes that his whole ideology is just going to shake it off. Or is he going to tell me he's a liar? Like, what's going to happen? That's why guys, I stutter because this show makes my brain have 50 thoughts at one time, genuinely. But that's what I'm trying to say. It's really hard to predict the future of this show. Like, I got to account for the fact that Joffrey's about to have to worry about white walkers. Is that going to make him better, worse, crazy? Is he going to actually like bring resources to the Night's Watch? Is he going to torture the white walkers and cut their heads off? Like, what's he going to do? I don't know. Let's go. In the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, the dominant religion is the faith of the Seven. First brought to its shores by the Andals some six thousand years ago. But there are some who still think of the old way. I like the old ones. Worshipping the faceless gods of the children of the forest and the first men. The old gods are countless, nameless spirits of nature. And ancient times, the children of the forest carved faces in the trunks of the weirwood trees. Which became sacred symbols of their faith. In time, the first men adopted the children's gods as their own. Most castles at that time contained the gods with a weirwood or heart tree at its centre. Meanwhile, across the narrow sea, a new religion was born in the hills of Andalos. According to legend, the God of Seven revealed itself to the Andals. And the invasion of Westeros followed soon after. The Andals sailed across the sea on ships armed with weapons of steel. Some warriors carved a seven pointed star into their skin as a symbol of their new faith. The invaders destroyed most of the weirwoods in the southern lands, slaughtered the children of the forest wherever they could find them and conquered every kingdom of the first men, saved the north. In time, the faith of the Seven spread like wildfire throughout the land. The Seven is a single deity with seven aspects, each symbolising a different area of life that most people refer to the Seven as separate gods. The mother is prayed to for mercy and watches over fertility, childbirth and peace. The father sits in judgement over souls. The warrior is prayed to for protection, valor and skill in battle. The crone is the symbol of wisdom and foresight. The smith watches over creation and craftsmanship. The maiden symbolises purity, love and beauty. Finally, there is the stranger, rarely prayed to, who represents death. The faith is highly organised and deeply influential in Westerosi politics and culture as the official religion of the monarchy. Worshippers gather in temples of the faith called Seps. The seat of the faith is the great Scept of Baelor. It is located in the capital city of King's Landing. Right. Still, we're descendants of the first men dwell. Worship of the old gods continues to this day and the sacred faces of the wearwood trees keep close watch over the faithful. You know what was cool about that part right there? What? So remember in the beginning when I was taking notes of course and in the beginning we were talking about how the Andals attacked and so this was like saying why they, this is saying like the religion of them which is there's the faith of the Seven. Right and it goes through and explains like it's basically like earth, wind, fire, water the same analogy like love. Yeah, they have Mother, Father, Warrior, Crowns, like Maiden, Stranger. Took all the most important aspects of their life and created a deity for it. And basically if you're, you feel like the Faceless, the Children, if you're doing the Children of the Forest that's the old gods. So only the North does that. The Ascension of Aegon Targaryen was confirmed and the fate of the Seven Kingdoms sailed on the field of fire. King's Lauren Lannister of the Rock and Mern Gardener of the Reach stood against Aegon's invasion. They commanded a united force of 600 banners. 5,000 mounted knights and 50,000 men at arms. Aegon's host was vastly outnumbered and when the army of the two kings charged the invaders turned to heal and ran. But Andalmite was no match for dragon flame. When Aegon unleashed all three of his dragons 4,000 souls were horrendously burned alive on the battlefield, King Mern among them. Realizing all hope was lost, King Lauren surrendered. The Starks of Winterfell had no intention of submitting to Targaryen rule. They had reigned as kings in the North since the days of the first men and were determined to resist the Targaryen invaders just as they had resisted the Andals thousands of years before. King Torren Stark led his army to the rent fork just east of Riverrun, to succeed where Lorne and Mern had failed. But when Torren saw the size of Aegon's now mighty host along with his monstrous dragons he knew he couldn't subject his followers to the horror of another field of fire. Yeah, there's no when in that. He bent the knee and swore fealty to Aegon who allowed the Starks to maintain their lordship over the region as Lord's Paramount and Wardens of the North. Without question, Torren Stark saved thousands of lives that day. Right. He was ever after known as the king who knelt. The king who knelt. Okay, that's cool. Man, that's crazy. Bro, the war is going hard in this, babe. I know, yeah. Don't you think? This is nuts, guys. So he's the king who knelt and he basically knelt because, you know, because he wanted to save his people's lives and not have them crisp and burn to death in a battlefield. Right. Am I doing so? People took that out of context over time, became insensitive to it and mocked him over it because, you know, this is just the time they live in. And they labeled him the king who knelt. So was this the first rebellion? Like, I know Robert and Ned had a rebellion 17 years before Ned passing, of course. Was this the first rebellion? This seemed more ancient than that. Yeah, this wasn't on Aerys, this was on Aegon the Conqueror. Right. Okay. That makes sense. The days of the Andals were numbered. One by one, their so-called kings were bending the knee or facing the wrath of Aegon Targaryen. Aegon of old Valyria. Aegon who was blood of the dragon. After defeating the Iron Man at Heron Hall and slaying the last of the Storm Kings, Aegon and his sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya, set their sights on other prizes, the Goldmines of the Rock and the Fertile Lands of the Reach. King Loran Lannister of the Rock and King Mern Gardener of the Reach foolishly thought their combined armies could beat back the Targaryen host. They rode forth together, their proud banners flapping in the wind and faced off against Aegon in a vast golden field of wheat. The two kings commanded a massive force of nearly 60,000 and it appeared the day was theirs until Aegon unleashed all three of his dragons for the first and only time. Each beast was named after the Valyrian gods of Aegon's forefathers. Visenya rode Vhagar, whose fiery breath could melt armor. Rhaenys rode Meraxes, whose jaws were big enough to swallow a horse whole. Greatest of all was Belerion the Black Dread with fire dark as night and wings so huge, whole towns were covered in shadow when he flew overhead. This magnificent creature was ridden by Aegon himself. Four thousand men were bathed in glorious dragon flame that day on what came to be known as the Field of Fire. King Mern was among the dead and House Gardener died with him. His stewards, the Tyrells, surrendered his ancestral stronghold of High Garden to Aegon and were appointed Lord's Paramount of the Reach and Wardens of the South. When Lauren Lannister witnessed Mern's fate, he wisely bent the knee. Aegon spared Lauren's life and the Lannisters were made Lord's Paramount of the Westerlands and Wardens of the West. After his triumph on the Field of Fire, Aegon's conquest was assured. In a short time, the so-called Seven Kingdoms were melted down in the heat of the dragon's flame and transformed into a single realm. Aegon would forever be known as Aegon the Conqueror. That was cool because you know what, it just said all three of the Targaryens rode the dragons and because of that, the House Tyrell which was formerly what was it, Mern Gardener so it was a whole different house back then but because he died in the Field of Fires so they became the Tyrells who were just stewards. That's pretty cool. Good catch, baby. You on it, girl. Old town. This venerable order of learned men dedicate their lives to serving the realm and are sworn to occupy a neutral position when it comes to power and politics. Upon completing his training at the Citadel and taking his vows, a maester renounces his family name and takes a vow of celibacy. He is assigned to a castle or keep and duty bound to serve as its counselor and healer even if control of the castle changes hands a maester's allegiance is to the realm not to any one family. His badge of office is a great chain forged from links of different metals which he wears around his neck. It is a reminder of his role as a servant of the realm and is never to be removed. A maester forges his chain with study and each link represents the mastery of a different kind of learning. For instance, a sober link signifies mastery of the medicinal arts. A golden link represents the study of money and accounting. An iron link indicates knowledge of warcraft. Ravenry is an especially important skill for a maester. As it is he who breeds, trains and maintains carrier ravens for the delivering of messages throughout the land. Who have earned a link forged of Valyrian steel. It's like Boy Scout badges. Is a noble calling. One of vital importance to a prosperous realm. It is little wonder there are some who refer to the order as the Knights of the Mind. That is so good because you know how many questions I had on that, on these maesters? Right. Yeah, because they kept saying maester men. And I knew it was like, you know, someone who was like involved with the studies and very smart and stuff. But we haven't seen the Citadel yet, have we? Have we been introduced to it yet? I don't think so. I think it's cool that they don't have like allegiance to a family, they have allegiance to the realm. Right. So like basically no matter where, if they're in like whatever kingdom they're in, no matter what family it is, they remain like neutral. Absolutely, yeah. They do that a lot there. I mean it's very ingrained in their culture that some people's role is to be extremely loyal to their family and some people's role is to be extremely loyal to the realm and it really just depends on like where you fall, so. As word of King Aerys erratic and troubling behavior spread throughout the seven kingdoms, Lord Rickard Stark continued to serve his king faithfully as warden of the north. The proud father of four children, his daughter Lyona, was engaged to Robert Baratheon, the young lord of Storm's End. Centuries of peace between the north and the Iron Throne ended the day Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragostone, abducted Lyona. Enraged, Brandon Stark rode to King's Landing demanding the release of his sister and the death of Rhaegar. Aerys arrested him for treason and called his father to come to the capital to ransom him. When Lord Rickard complied, Aerys now, utterly mad, arrested him for treason as well. For a why? Lord Rickard demanded a trial by combat. Aerys declared fire the champion of House Targaryen and had Lord Rickard suspended from the rafters of the throne room while Pyramids has lit a blaze beneath him. As he burned, Brandon was brought into the throne room. A leather cord attached to a strangulation device was wrapped around his neck. Aerys told Brandon his father was a dead man but there was a chance to save him. A longsword was placed on the floor just out of Brandon's reach and the more he struggled to reach it, the more the cord tightened around his throat. Brandon Stark strangled himself trying to free his father who was wasted alive in his own armor. Wow. John for his idol. The court stood and watched this atrocity take place. Sir Jaime Lernister and the Kingsguard among them. The mad king was reported to have laughed hysterically as these two noble men were tortured and brutally killed before him. Wow. Crazy. Seeking to rid the world of all his supposed enemies, Aerys called for the head of Rickard's younger son, Eddard Stark, and Leonor's betrothed Robert Baratheon. He sent word to Lord Jon Aeryn who had fostered both young men at the Eyrie to apprehend them. Instead, Lord Aeryn joined House Stark and Baratheon in rebellion. Robert vowed to kill Rhaegar Targaryen and get his beloved Leonor back. Wow. That's what started all that. Yeah, we heard all the references to that. That was great. And now we finally know the story. That's great. Yeah, this illustration is really cool too. I don't know if I've mentioned it, but just the way that they're painting the story for us and showing us these illustrations, it's almost as engaging as watching the actual episode. Right. I'm liking this. Am I becoming like a war fan? What the heck? That's your cup of tea. Remember, Jaime said that to Ned in the Throne Room. He said, there's like that quote that was like, he said something about you only are there when it's safe or something like that. Do you remember what I'm talking about? Ned said that to Jaime. Well, that whole dialogue of what happened with the family being tortured. Right. Oh my God. We just learned about it. Yeah. And that really makes you almost as hard to say, but sympathize with Jaime because he's the King Slayer. But I mean, dude. Like he had to watch that too. Yeah. He straight went freaking. Wow. He went medieval torture on him. Yeah. So that's basically the origin of how this whole entire, like where we pick up in the story at least. Like that's the origin of how it all started. Ned and Robert. I see why you guys say it's extremely important that we watch these 100%. I feel like this is 600% necessary if you're going to try to watch the series. Right. If you're going to take it seriously and appreciate how deep the story actually goes. Yeah. Right. If you're not getting social, whoever wrote this, George R. R. Martin. A pure genius. This man was just sitting at the crib brainstorming what he was doing.