I Don’t Really Get The Jonsa/Jonerys fights Because Sansa And Dany Are Such Interesting Characters

Hi! I'm really enjoying your blog, your predictions for S2 and how you analyse the characters! I apologize if you already did this but I'm curious about your thoughts regarding Edward (especially if you think he cares about Esther) and Clara as characters and about the nature of their relationship with each other. Thank you and happy holidays!

Hey, nonnie!

So sorry to take this long to answer your ask. I was so consummed with my fanfic in December and then so tired I didn’t manage to get to these meatier asks sooner. Hopefully, you’re still interested in my answer.

I haven’t actually talked about Edward Denham on my blog before, aside from a little comment in one of my first metas about him and Esther being Davies’ take on Mary and Henry Crawford from Mansfield Park. In fact at the start of the series the Mansfield Park connection is completed with Clara in the place of the innocent ingenue Fanny Price that is to be seduced by the rake with his sister’s support.

One of the coolest things Davies does with Sanditon is that he takes full advantage of our Jane Austen proficency by littering this world with all the familiar Austen archetypes. But just as soon as you begin to lament that this world offers too much of the familiar and not enough of the strange, he pulls the rug from under you and reveals these characters to be something else entirely.

And no one exemplifies this better than Esther. The cold, mercenary harpy bent on swindeling her aunt and ruining a poor girl’s reputation in the process is revealed to be the true victim of this little traingle. A girl who fell in love with a bad man without any chance of escaping him. And the innocent ingenue? Well … Clara is about as far removed from Fanny Price as one can get.

However, the one character that remains unaltered, in fact the character that holds the fewest surprises in the whole of Sanditon is Edward. He is exactly as advertised: the Henry Crawford bent on seducing virginal Fanny, Wickham planning to “whisk” Georgiana away, Willoughby playing with Marianne and then discarding her.

I actually think Willoughby might actually be the closest analog to Edward. Willoughby is, by far, in my mind the worst of Austen’s villians. A true, clinical case of narcisism if there’s every been one.

Willoughby and Edward aren’t dangerous simply because they will use you to get money the way Wickham does or because they want to saw wild oats. They are dangerous because they are perfectly willing to gaslight and use their victims for as long as they possibly can.

They aren’t content to simply go on their merry way once it becomes clear you’ve figured out their true character. They will come back and prod as many times as possible, searching for any weakness which might allow them entry back into your life. Their objective isn’t just material (although both Edward and Willighouby love luxuary when they get it without having to work for it) but emotional as well.

Everytime Esther relents to Edward, everytime she follows his lead, his influence over her grows.  Their relationship is all the more damaging and dangerous because she’s stuck in a house with him 24/7.

The worst part of it is, Edward doesn’t trick Esther by making her believe he is better than he is. She sees all his ugliness, his faults, his selfishness and ego. What he does is far worse: he makes her believe she is as bad as him.

He takes this naturally honest, compassionate and intelligent woman and twists her up into a shell of herself. He breakes down her selfesteem to such a degree that while she’s with him, she convinces herself of her own immorality and after she finally manages to leave him, she thinks of herself as worthless for having allowed herself to be manipulated by him. She is in a lose-lose situation either way.

Esther’s relationship with Edward is scary, sad and very, very real in a way that becomes all the more uncomfortable, the more you think about it so it’s hard to talk about love in this context.

The real question is: can someone who is inherently unhealthy love in a positive way? I do think Edward probably loves her but his way of loving is tained by his own twisted personality so it’s not something worth having in any case.

As for his relationship with Clara, on the surface it’s a classic cat and mouse game. But I do think beneath all that is some sort of twisted attraction probably born from selfloathing. They can recognize something of themselves in each other and they end up forming a bond, if their last conversation is any indication:

Edward: The vanquished enemy retreats.

Clara: I was never your enemy.

[…]

Clara: Look at you … Alone and unloved. Trust me. That’s not an easy placeto find yourself in. I will spare you a thought now and then. I know you will think of me.

I do think in a theoretical season 2, Edward and Clara would be back, possibly scheeming together.

Thanks for the ask!

We cannot judge either of the feelings or of the characters of men with perfect accuracy, from their actions or from their appearance in public; it is from their careless conversations, their half-finished sentences, that we may hope with the greatest probability of success to discover their real characters.

Maria Edgeworth, preface to Castle Rackrent (Unitarian, author)

I can’t be the only person that likes the new BBC/PBS Les Miserables adaptation, can I? 

Caption: How your day is actually going.

The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)

Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam (Carl Boese & Paul Wegener, 1920).

“…I killed you…”

SANDITON  Season 2 | Episode 3

Dorothea runs into her marriage like it’s an exciting college internship...and then wonders why it isn’t working out. 

I’ve been reading a lot of posts about the field of fire recently. I don’t ship Jonsa and though you do, yours definitely seems like the voice of reason, mainly because you still appreciate and like Dany’s character even if you think her arc is going dark. What did you feel when you saw that scene? Because though it was dark and destructive I don’t think she was acting like a mad queen. Not yet...

Hello there! It doesn’t matter if you ship Jonsa or not. Any ask is welcome in my ask box as long as it is devoid of hate, lol. Also though I ship Jonsa, I am more a fan of the story, which is why I began watching the show in the first place. 

SO, interesting question about the field of fire, because according to me, the black part of the grey in Dany’s character reached it’s pinnacle in that episode, before they redeemed her a bit with the white part of the grey of her character. 

To begin with, Let’s take a look at this from Dany’s POV. 

When season six ended, Dany was like this…

She had the unsullied, the dothraki - close to a hundred thousand men and a massive fleet of ships at her back, not to mention three dragons. I wondered, tbh if Cersei was even going to be a problem. No foreign invader had the might or the clout that Dany had when she was coming to westeros - Not even Aegon the conqueror. And if this was not enough, Tyrion Lannister - the man who has the best political acumen in all of Westeros and Lord Varys who is in all probability the best spy in the country is with her, at her side. I am sure, a lot of us asked this question…

What could possibly go wrong?

And then, she happened…

In three episodes Cersei, who was looking like the underdog all of a sudden with Dany coming to Westeros and Jon being declared the King in the north, showed us all why she is still sitting on the iron throne, didn’t she? Love her, hate her but you can’t deny that she upped her game by a million points. 

You know how frustrating this was for Dany? She has bloody dragons, an army of savages and she ‘believes’ that she’s the rightful heir to throne and Cersei outsmarted her - not once, but twice. Though she was sorely tempted to take over King’s landing as soon as she entered Westeros, Tyrion’s counsel kept her from doing it. And now she’d lost allies, she’d lost strongholds and in general the Westerosi populace was not taking her too seriously. If she had to be queen, she had to do something. 

Here’s where everything begins to go spiraling down. Her arc changes, almost visibly and we begin to notice the cracks in her ‘I am here to break the wheel’ agenda. Mind you, she truly believes in it. 

Mistake no. 1 - Her unnecessary tirade at Tyrion, in front of Jon and Ser Davos

She’s angry and rightfully so. But then she says this…

 She says this to the man who is plotting his family’s defeat, going against his blood, his beloved brother because he believes in her cause. So here arises an important question. What does this tell about her leadership? 

1. She’s more upset about the death/capture of her allies - in relation to HER quest for the iron throne. She doesn’t mourn Olena nor asks even once after Yara. 

2. She questions the loyalty of a man who’s not just bent the knee but is also serving as her hand for crying out loud in front of Jon - who has neither bent the knee and is a perfect stranger to her. 

The she goes on to do this. 

She asks Jon what she should do, completely/ purposefully ignoring Tyrion. Would you just look at Tyrion’s expression. 

We know for a fact that Jon and Davos are visibly uncomfortable with this whole scene. One can most definitely argue that her planning to attack the Lannister army, was necessary for her to maintain power in Westeros. I’ll come to the how and why of that later on. But imho, her behaviour with Tyrion is what shows her darker side more than anything else. 

It is in moments, when you’re the weakest, that your true personality shines through. In Dany’s case she resorted to suspicion, blame and harsh words meant to inflict hurt -  fueled by her insecurity, at the very man who had dedicated himself to her service. This is not how a good leader behaves. 

And so Dany decides… 

Enough with the clever plans. 

To be fair to Daenerys, nothing was working in her favour. She had to act and act fast, and I believe herein lies all the difference. 

Dany is restless; she wants to sit on the iron throne as soon as possible. There is an urgency in her quest for the throne. Her attention however is not focussed on the people of Westeros or the troubles that concern them. She is more occupied/obsessed with the person occupying the chair that she thinks belongs to her by birthright. 

She merely assumes that by occupying the iron throne she will be able to solve all the problems in Westeros. She doesn’t wait for earning the people’s love and respect, before laying claim over them. She doesn’t know anything about their problems nor does she take an active interest in finding out. 

In fact, her behaviour is the exact opposite of that which made her so loved in Essos. She broke the chains ‘before’ she came to be called Mhysa. She freed the unsullied ‘before’ they decided to serve her. She offered Missandei her freedom ‘before’ Missandei decided to dedicate her life to her. She does something selfless before she rises in power in Essos. She ‘earns’ the love of the people who choose to follow her as is informed to us and Jon by Tyrion and Missandei. 

Unfortunately, she doesn’t use the same approach once she enters Westeros. 

Look at this scene again…

This is the first time the people of Westeros get a glimpse of her - 

What do you think they would’ve felt when they saw her clad in all black riding a monstrous black drogon?  

One word - Fear

Now a lot has already been talked about why her burning spree was not such a good idea, so I am not going to talk about that aspect. I am just going to talk about what ‘the show’ was trying to tell us. 

Fear, destruction by fire was the central theme around which this entire scene was shot. I know i cant capture the music but there is a point of time after Dany yells dracarys, as drogon swoops down on the Lannister soldiers… 

After this moment ….

During this moment… 

Go back to the scene and listen to the music/drogon’s sound carefully - It sounds exactly like the prelude to the launch of a weapon of mass destruction. Which is exactly what it was supposed to look like. Also, we see the soldiers quivering before this scene (Again, fear) 

Then the music changes. It’s not a good music. In the entire field of fire the camera angle is always shown from the POV of the Lannister Army, Jamie, Bronn and Tyrion. There are a few shots from Dany’s angle but it’s mostly to show the burning happening from an ariel view. We are viewing Dany like the people of Westeros, i.e the people on the other side are viewing her. Unlike in the BotB where the camera is placed behind the Stark side making the Bolton army the opponents or the Fight beyond the wall, where the camera is panning from behind Dany, Jon and Co - making the others - the opposite side.  

So where was I? After the initial dracarys, we are shown an extended cut of the burning and screaming of the soldiers as a horrified Dickon Tarly looks on. 

After that the dothraki attack. They are clearly at an advantage with their horses but the lannister soldiers also manage to kill a few of the dothraki. 

Then we are shown the food wagons stationed behind the army and Dany looking at it. 

And then this happens… 

And this…

And this…

We’re shown not once, but twice and thrice how dany specifically targets the food wagons. 

I tried to come up with an explanation for what was her logic behind this and failed miserably at coming up with one. What exactly was she trying to achieve by doing this??

1. Was it scare tactics? She needn’t have bothered. The Lannister soldiers were already pissing in their pants. 

2. Was she scared that some of them would try and smuggle some food back to king’s landing? Back to Cersei? 

Possible but un-bloody-likely. Come on, if that’s your argument, she had an Ariel view. Even if one wagon tried to escape, she could’ve more than easily burnt one to scare the others from doing the same. 

3. Did she think if she lost the battle, the Lannisters would manage to smuggle the food out of the Reach into King’s landing??

I am laughing at this suggestion. It mine, I know. But it’s hilarious. If Dany thought even for a moment that she was going to lose this battle, then she doesn’t know the first thing about battles. The Lannister army was outnumbered, outsmarted and outweighed by the very presence of Drogon. The battle was lost, the second Dany yelled Dracarys and she must’ve known that. 

So if she knew that she and her army was going to come out on top, why would she waste tonnes and tonnes of food which she could have easily procured for her own army? Which also goes to indicate one more thing. She knows nothing (pun intended)  about Westeros or the winter that has come.

We see Jamie watching in horror as his men burn to death. He shouts ‘take cover’ as drogon breaths a fresh round of fire, turning to dust many of his men. He asks Bronn to fetch the weapon Qyburn has made. 

Then as more destruction occurs, Tyrion enters the scene. I think this was a very important aspect of the whole battle. What was the purpose of making Tyrion a spectator to the battle? What are we as audiences supposed to see from Tyrion’s POV?

The music turns silent to give way for us to hear the cries of suffering and the destruction that Tyrion (and us) can see from where he is standing. Then the rude Dothraki comments “Your people can’t fight”

And the Tyrion gets a sad look on his face. And if his expression wasn’t enough, a sad violin music plays in the background with the cries of terror and suffering. 

Also the next scene is Tyrion looking at a single burning food wagon. It is a summary of the destruction we’ve witnessed and also a reminder. 

Now Jamie looks at the same burning food wagon from a different angle

He watches as some of his soldiers run towards the water to douse their burning bodies. He sees the pain and suffering he’d wanted to stop - a cause for which he sacrifised his honour. He’s motivated enough to do it again. 

I asked myself a simple question. If it had been Jon in Tyrion’s place, how would he have reacted, if Jamie felt the above was justified? But anyway, that’s a question for another time, another season. 

Which now brings us to a very important aspect of the field of fire - The next episode or the one with Dany’s justice. 

Look at the way this scene has been shot. We don’t see Dany first. We see her dragon. And then when she comes on screen, note how similar the colour of her clothes are to Drogon’s scales. In my opinion, this shot is very telling. I think there is a scene somewhere in the finale when she says - We’re ordinary without our dragons or something of that sort. 

Dragon first, Dany second implying in no uncertain terms that she is a dragon and the dragons are the very source of her power. And if this shot alone was not enough to explain this, the dialogue that follows clarifies this a little more. 

I know what Cersei has told you. That I have come to destroy your cities, burn down your homes, murder you and orphan your children. (Tyrion looks uncomfortable)

That’s Cersei Lannister, not me. I am not here to murder. And all I want to destroy is the wheel that is rolled over rich and poor. To the benefit of no one but the Cersei Lannisters of the world. I offer you a choice. Bend the knee and join me. Together, we will leave the world a better place than we found it. 

Again the angle of the camera shifts from Dany to Tyrion. We’re forced to look at her from Tyrion’s POV once again as she says the following words

Or Refuse and Die

Now Tyrion is positively squirming, frustrated even

PAY ATTENTION - This is the magic of this scene. 

In spite of Dany’s speech - Only ‘10′ or less soldiers bend the knee. 

Do we realise how significant this scene is? 

I would remind you that these are the soldiers who have witnessed fear and destruction like they’ve never ever seen before. Hell, most of them have never heard of a dragon before, leave alone seen one!!! Yet, the very woman who had wrought havoc upon them, killed their friends offers to spare their lives if they bend the knee - and YET their first instinct - IS TO DEFY HER. 

Imo, this was the most significant moment of the entire show, with regards to Dany’s changing arc. Her speech which has before today inspired millions of people, has absolutely no effect on the Westerosi soldiers. They put their chest out and stand their ground unyielding.  

Seeing their defiant stance … Drogon screams, advancing menacingly towards them. 

Almost all of them bend the knee instantly. And just like that, once again we’re reminded of the theme of the field of fire. 

FEAR

They don’t bend the knee because they believe in her, they’re inspired by her or because they love her. They bend the knee because they fear her power - and the source of it - her dragons. 

But Lo and Behold! Even the dragon’s fear cannot scare the Tarlys and some other brave soldiers. I don’t think many of us see the underlying contempt for Dany that these people seem to have, to defy her in this fashion, even if it means their death. 

And then we have this beautiful boy step forward. I don’t think it was a coincidence that they went out of their way to let us know that Dickon was a nice chap. Again, Randall Tarly, you can argue about what a dick he was and that he probably deserved to die - I mean he spoke about flogging as a means to get the men to walk faster for heaven’s sake. 

He probably didn’t bend the knee to Dany, because he was a proud, arrogant man. But Dickon? Why did he offer himself up for slaughter? 

‘You’d have to kill me too.’ He tells Daenerys. He’s not an egotistic fool. He is brave, gentle and strong (Sorry, fellow shippers). He’s just a lad. He defies Dany because he wants to stand up to her. Tell her that he doesn’t believe in her. He decides to give his life because he wants the world to know, that he was in open rebellion to Daenerys Targaryen. He’s making a statement, mind you. A silent one, but a strong one. 

“I will not” says Dickon Tarly, when asked to bend the knee. 

Of course, Tyrion Panics. BIG TIME. By now, he understands Daenerys better. 

He starts thinking on his feet. He is distressed. He wants to avoid more bloodshed. Of course, at this point he foolishly assumes that she’s going to behead them. 

She has other plans. 

Dickon dies a hero’s death. He scarifies himself, the future of his house for letting Westeros know that he stood up to Daenerys and refused to bend the knee. He chooses to reject fear. So if he’s the hero of this part of the narrative, who is the villain?

Tyrion actually looks away. Unable to bear it. I don’t even have to say how dark the music sounds at this point. And the music is very important - it’s supposed to make us feel something. 

I also thinks this was a significant call back to the burning of a father and son in past, but I won’t dwell on it. 

Also it is important to note here, that Jon sees Daenerys doing the exact opposite of what Dickon sees her doing. She risks herself to save their lives (Ok Ok I know they are there beyond the wall because her obsession with cersei, but still), she single handedly destroys the wights and loses her dragon in the bargain. You also don’t see her say ‘dracarys’ in that scene for a reason. 

I know this got a little too long, but this is what I read from the whole field of fire scene. We were being shown in the prelude to it and post it, in no uncertain terms, all the Dark shades in dany’s arc. Emilia of course, plays this beautifully. You can see the lack of remorse or attachment in her eyes when she executes the Tarlys. You can see the panic in Tyrion’s eyes and you can see the defiance in Dickon’s. 

This is what I concluded from the whole scene. Thanks for the ask!!