in Lord of the Rings, not even the distrust of Denethor towards Aragorn, comes close to the
cruelty with which Stark and Lannister and Tyrell and Martell and the rest play the game of
thrones. Even that phrase implies a shallowness, an amoral reality where only actions and
emotions are real. When you play, says Cercei Lannister, you win or you die. Jon Snow escaped
death, but his finale fate is bereft of any kind of victory. The powers that be have slightly
different names when its all over, and an old throne was melted, but apart from that and the
thousands of deaths nothing has really changed. They survived the Ice and Fire, for a time, and
that is all. UJ