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No. 94: #NotAllMaesters

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#NotAllMaesters

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Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/pomh/?comic=94

Strip by: Ian Boreham

title: Winter is Coming denialism

{Some Frey soldiers are sitting around in a clearing somewhere in the North of Westeros, talking.}

Soldier 1: I heard yesterday a white raven arrived. Winter has come.

Soldier 2: What, you buy into all that, do you?

Soldier 1: Of course! The maesters have agreed that Winter has come.

Soldier 2: Not all maesters! The maester at the Eyrie disagrees.

Soldier 1: Oh, come on! The overwhelming consensus of the maesters in the Citadel is that Winter is here.

Soldier 2: Maester Lore isn’t a matter of consensus. Anyway, young maesters are brainwashed with the whole “Winter is coming” spiel. And anthropogenic Winter is a sure-fire way of getting funding for their research.

Soldier 1: The North is nearly covered in snow!

Soldier 2: I don’t see any snow here...

Soldier 1: The average temperature over the North is at a record low.

Soldier 2: There have been Winters before. It’s a natural cycle.

Soldier 1: This is the worst in recorded history! Average temperatures have been falling for decades, and they’re falling more rapidly now than ever before.

Soldier 2: Even if Winter has come, it doesn’t mean we caused it.

Soldier 1: Of course we caused it. Encroaching north of the Wall, angering the White Walkers. Burning dirty fuels and putting lots of ash into the upper atmosphere... That Targaryen witch bringing the dragons back. People leaving the Seven for the Lord of Light.

Soldier 2: If the Gods are angry, why don’t they give us a sign?

Soldier 1: The Red Comet!

Soldier 2: Chemtrails! It’s a conspiracy between King’s Landing and Big Maesta.

The author writes:

I was happy with most of this except the evidence for anthropogenic Winter. George R R Martin has not explained the reasons for the long winters in Westeros (and I've seen conflicting claims about whether there are normal annual winters as well, which would seem reasonable to me).

The problem with me making up reasons for it here is that in a fantasy world, the reasons are likely to be magical rather than scientific, and I find myself sympathetic with the skeptic.

Anyway. The stills for this scene are from season 3 episode 10. If you haven't seen this yet, maybe you shouldn't read any further.

SPOILER: These Frey soldiers are actually sitting around boasting about their involvement in the murders at the Red Wedding. Arya and The Hound ride by in the background (you can see the tail end of the horse in the first panel). They only get to chat for a short while before Arya gets down from her high horse to teach them a lesson.

Assembled in Krita using screenshots from the Game of Thrones HBO series.