Iron Islands

And you have no idea what the current politics are.

You don't understand the dynamics of the Iron Islands.

But Theon commits.

He doubles down.

uncomfortable relationship to Gondor.

I like that.

And when Theon returns to the Iron Islands in his first chapter here, he's expecting this sort of warm welcome as like, oh, he's the heir to the throne.

Finally, our future king has returned.

I also feel that there's a huge... richness in intergenerational relationships.

I feel like I know my sister lives on the Iron Islands and she does some work with the nursing home on the island and she organizes for school students to go in and chat with the older people and the older people look forward to it so much.

But on the other hand, the younger students leave with a wealth of of stories and appreciation and an acknowledgement of the importance of the different stages in life.

You know, older people have clarity.

I

assume the Iron Islands are directly based on George R.R. Martin's misunderstanding of the Hebrides.

I'm sure of it, yes.

So in Orkney, Earlsboo, what we see there is really close management of the pigs.

But in books four and five, he massively expanded the geography of the world.

He introduced dozens of new point of view characters in Dorne, in the Iron Islands, across the Narrow Sea.

He just kept adding stuff.

He created what fans famously call the Maronese knot, a tangled convergence of characters all heading toward the same city at different speeds with different motivations.

Now, the first

tricky question is, have you been to the Iron Islands? Much to my shame, I have not been to the Iron Islands.

Varum, varum.

Varum, varum.

Um, actually, wait.

No, no, no. Saltwater taffy is the Iron Islands.

Um-

Yeah.

Stormland, that, that's all they're doing.

Um-

Was the Iron Islands-

Is that everyone?

Martin starts introducing entirely new regions, new political systems, new POVs.

We spend a massive amount of time in the Iron Islands, and granted, this does give us Euron Greyjoy.

Let's talk about Euron for a second because the source notes that the television show utterly failed to capture him.

Oh, completely dropped the ball.

In the first book, Theon was essentially just a background extra, a swaggering teenage hostage raised by the Stark family.

But in book two, he becomes a primary POV, and his arc is a devastating exploration of identity.

He returns to his biological family on the Iron Islands expecting a hero's welcome, only to realize he is viewed as a soft, assimilated outsider.

His storyline is a profound psychological tragedy.

Yeah

... you've got the dude from the Iron Islands, you've got literally-

Dude, every-

... everybody-

These names.

[laughs] George, George went to the Iron Islands like, "I'm gonna have fun.

I'm gonna have fun.

I'm gonna be a silly, goofy girl."

I am, I am offering myself." And he sits on the chair.

And they're like...

So now they've sent out ravens to all, like, the lords and people of, uh, of what? The Iron Islands, and are like, "Hey, you gotta come to Seastone St- Sea s- bleh, Seastone Chair, and, like, pay homage to the new king." And then, um, apparently there's other ravens now showing up, saying that everyone needs to go to Harlaw, which is an island, uh, which is the island home of Asha and Theon's mother's family, uh, the Harlaws.

And, uh, Asha is there trying to, like, garner her own support.