# Game of Thrones 3.05 "Kissed by Fire" 4/28/13 No spoilers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979 "2013-04-29T02:37:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/241 "2013-05-03T20:06:03Z")
I’m sure every major house has some Targaryen blood in their background, they didn’t ALL marry each other. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/242 "2013-05-03T20:32:42Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I’m sure every major house has some Targaryen blood in their background, they didn’t ALL marry each other. I’m curious - if the top-level lords and ladies of the 7 Great Houses all just married into other Great Houses, would inbreeding problems start happening at some point? I don’t know enough about population genetics to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/243 "2013-05-03T21:11:52Z")
Well, the entirety of European royalty is descended from Victoria and they all carry the gene for haemophilia ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/244 "2013-05-04T02:35:11Z")
I haven’t read the books so this is just speculation. Is anyone else actually disappointed that they look to be spending 3 or 4 seasons setting up a Fantasy zombie apocalypse? We have enough zombies in popular culture right now thanks. There is plenty enough action and intrigue going on to keep the story of the battle for the Iron Throne interesting in its own right. When the white walkers finally do come south of the wall it becomes a standard “good” vs “evil” fantasy story while so far its avoided that. There are no clear cut good guys and bad guys, while its pretty clear the white walkers are 100 percent the baddies. I am guessing that the Lord of Light will play a big role in defeating the White Walkers. While the lord of light does seem to be a pretty harsh god demanding sacrifices, he/she seems to be on the side of the living at least. Meh, the story would have been just fine without them. I like my moral ambiguity and naked struggling for power thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/245 "2013-05-04T02:55:34Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I’m sure every major house has some Targaryen blood in their background, they didn’t ALL marry each other. The targaryens haven’t been around that long in the big picture. I’d guess its the exception rather than the rule. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/246 "2013-05-04T03:16:19Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I haven’t read the books so this is just speculation. > > Is anyone else actually disappointed that they look to be spending 3 or 4 seasons setting up a Fantasy zombie apocalypse? We have enough zombies in popular culture right now thanks. There is plenty enough action and intrigue going on to keep the story of the battle for the Iron Throne interesting in its own right. > > When the white walkers finally do come south of the wall it becomes a standard “good” vs “evil” fantasy story while so far its avoided that. There are no clear cut good guys and bad guys, while its pretty clear the white walkers are 100 percent the baddies. I am guessing that the Lord of Light will play a big role in defeating the White Walkers. While the lord of light does seem to be a pretty harsh god demanding sacrifices, he/she seems to be on the side of the living at least. > > Meh, the story would have been just fine without them. I like my moral ambiguity and naked struggling for power thanks. I like the power struggle better with that pendulum swinging over the whole thing personally. At the end of the day it wouldn’t really matter who ruled the seven kingdoms for 99.99% of the population, but the seven kingdoms descending into war and chaos while the whole world hangs in the balance makes for a better story imo. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/247 "2013-05-04T04:23:11Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > . I like my moral ambiguity and naked struggling for power thanks. Well there is a reasonable amount of nakedness of all sorts. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/248 "2013-05-04T04:46:38Z")
DigitalC, I guess you are right they have to have a world destroying menace to raise the stakes each season . And I am hoping there will be some twist meaning the white walkers are not actually evil but are more like some necessary force of nature . We have already seen that its possible for humans to make pacts with them eg craster ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/249 "2013-05-04T07:35:54Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The targaryens haven’t been around that long in the big picture. I’d guess its the exception rather than the rule. Aegon I Targaryen took over the Seven Kingdoms around three hundred years before the events of GoT\*. Which, in our terms, is about as long ago as the [Glorious Revolution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution) of [William and Mary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_and_Mary). Or, to put it another way, a century before the American Revolution and Napoleon. So, really _quite_ a long time ago. \*Yes, they have stated this on the TV show, I have not read the books. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/250 "2013-05-04T08:56:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I was thinking about that. Can we think of Westeros as sort of like England or Great Britain, with King’s Landing instead of London, and perhaps the Starks as northern Englishmen or even Scotsmen? I think that this is a good analogy culture-wise, but it greatly underestimates the size of Westeros. Given the discussion about spoilers, I’m not sure I should include this, so I’ll put it in a spoiler box (mods please delete if needed). Here’s a link to a map of Westeros, and my rough estimates of distances between key locations in the tv show:[spoiler]The distance from the Wall to the south coast of the continent is about 3000 miles. Google tells me that the UK is only about 600 miles from north to south. So the length of the UK is the distance between the Wall and Winterfell. [![](https://gameofthrones.net/images/Westeros_Maps/map_of_westeros.jpg) ](https://gameofthrones.net/images/Westeros_Maps/map_of_westeros.jpg) From eyeballing the map my rough estimate of the distances (as difference in latitude from north-south, not as the crow flies) are:[ul] [li]The Wall - south coast of Dorne (southermost part of continent): 3000 miles[/li][li]Fist of the First Men - The Wall: 150 miles[/li][li]Craster’s Keep - The Wall: 80 miles[/li][li]The Wall - Winterfell: 600 miles[/li][li]Winterfell - The Twins: 900 miles[/li][li]Winterfell - Riverrun: 1200 miles[/li][li]Winterfell - Kings Landing: 1500 miles[/li][li]Riverrun - Kings Landing: 400 miles[/li] Riverrun and Harrehall are on roughly the same latitude (within 100 miles). Also, The Twins and The Eyrie are on about the same latitude.\*[/ul][/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/251 "2013-05-05T05:30:25Z")
They show the map every episode in the opening credits, so it’s not a spoiler as far as I would say. The map on the show also goes east to the Dothraki plains, Astapor, etc…, but the linked map does not. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/252 "2013-05-05T08:34:09Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > There’s a whole damn thread for people who’ve read the books, go there, knock yourself out. Not enough. I can’t help reading/posting about the show. So, I post in whatever thread happens to be active or where a topic that interests me is mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/253 "2013-05-05T12:25:45Z")
Why the hell does this have so many posts? All this for one episode? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/254 "2013-05-05T14:02:56Z")
Is that a question you expect someone to attempt to answer or is it just threadshitting? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/255 "2013-05-05T17:15:19Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I haven’t read the books so this is just speculation. > > Is anyone else actually disappointed that they look to be spending 3 or 4 seasons setting up a Fantasy zombie apocalypse? [snippage] > > Meh, the story would have been just fine without them. I like my moral ambiguity and naked struggling for power thanks. I’d be fine without them too. I see Winter as the Big Bad, not the Walkers. The Walkers can be killed with fire, so except for their numbers, they’re not that scary. Convince people that they exist and keep the fires burning. Winter is the real enemy. And War. They’re squandering resources when they should be getting ready for Winter. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/256 "2013-05-05T17:22:27Z")
This is just speculation, of course, but it’s possible that the Walkers won’t come south and the winter won’t come before the series ends. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/257 "2013-05-05T17:31:48Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’d be fine without them too. I see Winter as the Big Bad, not the Walkers. The Walkers can be killed with fire, so except for their numbers, they’re not that scary. Convince people that they exist and keep the fires burning. Winter is the real enemy. And War. They’re squandering resources when they should be getting ready for Winter. We’ve seen the zombies killed with fire, i don’t think anybody has killed any of the white walkers yet. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/258 "2013-05-05T20:49:37Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > We’ve seen the zombies killed with fire, i don’t think anybody has killed any of the white walkers yet. Correct. Not sure if they also survive dismemberment, Evil Dead style. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/259 "2013-05-05T23:20:14Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Not enough. I can’t help reading/posting about the show. So, I post in whatever thread happens to be active or where a topic that interests me is mentioned. Well I cannot fault you for liking the show. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979/260 "2013-05-06T00:03:58Z")
The map scale is humbling. > [@Shakester](#): > > Aegon I Targaryen took over the Seven Kingdoms around three hundred years before the events of GoT\*. Which, in our terms, is about as long ago as the [Glorious Revolution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glorious_Revolution) of [William and Mary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_and_Mary). Or, to put it another way, a century before the American Revolution and Napoleon. > > So, really _quite_ a long time ago. > > \*Yes, they have stated this on the TV show, I have not read the books. Yeah, but our magicless technological society advances much faster culturally. I mean, I don’t know if the difference between Pythagoras and Archimedes would have been as great as the same distance today, except that they would’ve agreed there’s a lot more damn Romans around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/game-of-thrones-3-05-kissed-by-fire-4-28-13-no-spoilers/656979.md?page=14)