"You Are He Who Must Stand Against The Other. The One Whose Coming Was Prophesied Five Thousand Years

"You are he who must stand against the Other. The one whose coming was prophesied five thousand years ago. The red comet was your herald. You are the prince that was promised, and if you fail the world fails with you."

—Melisandre, to Stannis Baratheon. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 63, Davos VI.

Dragon Sighting Above Hull

Artist: vats9_9

SAY YOU REMEMBER ME ❆ (JONERYS AU)

Instead of stopping in the Dothraki Sea, Drogon carries an injured Dany far, far away from the chaos of the fighting pits, across the Narrow Sea and into the path of a certain, brooding Lord Commander.

Happy birthday, my dearest @mhysaofdragons!

And yet I love this quiet clouded day. I love this settled stillness, and this feeling that, at any moment, down may come the rain. Should you say wasted? No, not really. Something is gathered. This quiet time brings one nearer.

Katherine Mansfield, from The Journal of Katherine Mansfield (1914-1922)

The largest structure ever built by the hands of man, Benjen Stark had told Jon on the kingsroad when they had first caught sight of the Wall in the distance. “And beyond a doubt the most useless,” Tyrion Lannister had added with a grin, but even the Imp grew silent as they rode closer. You could see it from miles off, a pale blue line across the northern horizon, stretching away to the east and west and vanishing in the far distance, immense and unbroken. This is the end of the world, it seemed to say.

When they finally spied Castle Black, its timbered keeps and stone towers looked like nothing more than a handful of toy blocks scattered on the snow, beneath the vast wall of ice. The ancient stronghold of the black brothers was no Winterfell, no true castle at all. Lacking walls, it could not be defended, not from the south, or east, or west; but it was only the north that concerned the Night’s Watch, and to the north loomed the Wall. Almost seven hundred feet high it stood, three times the height of the tallest tower in the stronghold it sheltered. His uncle said the top was wide enough for a dozen armored knights to ride abreast. The gaunt outlines of huge catapults and monstrous wooden cranes stood sentry up there, like the skeletons of great birds, and among them walked men in black as small as ants.

I’m very surprised there is an “Okafor is for the resistance” theory circulating in the fandom. ‘He is fomenting a soft coup within the military to peacefully give power to the Civic Republic once the time comes.’ I’m hearing this going, what? I feel like the odd one out! What am I seeing differently?

Maybe it’s my interpretation of his vision: “Monsters that kill the monsters—that’ll be over soon.”

Okafor speaks well and is charismatic but that’s the trick. He doesn’t care about anyone’s freedom, including Rick’s or even his own. He’s a villain—someone to test our two heros’ limits and their beliefs, not support them. Well, if he and Beale were on the same path of destruction and control when they ‘recruited’ Rick and gassed Omaha, then they only disagreed on the tactics of the CRM’s coup of the Civic Republic. They split on something more subtle; Okafor wanted a soft coup but Beale wants a hard coup.

What does that make our heroes, Rick and Michonne? I think for Rick the question will be, to inherent the Lieutenant Colonel’s vision and change it, at risk of losing everything to Major General Beale—or to abandon the Civic Republic’s fight for the safety and comfort of family if he can? I think 1x02 will bring Michonne’s years gone by and her inner conflict into play. As always, she will lead Rick to make the right choice, which will affect a lot of people. ❤️

Even if I’m wrong, at some point I’m gonna argue why we should dislike Okafor and appreciate him as a villain. Think I’ll make it part of a 1x01 analysis thread: Rick, Pearl and Donald: CRM’s Alliance of Three.