A Game of Thrones - TV Show Discussion Thread

[Dinner]

So Valyrian steel swords are super, super rare and Bran's assassin had one? Given to him by the Lannisters? Who have never had one before, but decide to give one to a random assassin.

Spoiler:

Joffery stole one from Robert's treasury (who is his supposed father while really his father is his uncle) and clumsily gave it to a random assassin/hired sword which was tagging along with the King's group visiting the north. The reasons are gone into in the books. Little Finger mislead the Starks into thinking it was Tyrion's, it wasn't.

BTW Valerian steel was supposedly made using dragon fire using a closely guarded technique known only to old Valeria so it was lost when Valeria was destroyed by the doom of Valeria (a huge volcano erupted destroying it) so even though a few dragons survived the doom of Valeria (Aegon the Conquer's three dragons) no one was left alive who knew the secret.

[regexcellent]

They skipped that part in the show, but had they not, Tyrion would have found out in the second episode of this season. Joffrey dies shortly after that discovery is made and it doesn't really go anywhere.

They have the same hints and clues in the show though, I think they wanted some people to figure it out. For instance the "I am no stranger to Valyrian steel" line.

[OzzyKP]

Joffrey organized the assassination? That can't be right.

[regexcellent]

So Valyrian steel swords are super, super rare and Bran's assassin had one? Given to him by the Lannisters? Who have never had one before, but decide to give one to a random assassin.

It was King Robert's, and it was just a knife, not a sword. He won it off of Littlefinger after Loras Tyrell (Renly Baratheon's boy toy) unhorsed Jaime Lannister in a tournament. Joffrey gave it to the assassin cause he's retarded.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

It's implied there are more than is listed, but yes, they're rare. Which was to point of giving one to the assassin. CSI Westeros is kinda slow and doesn't look gift horses in the mouth.

[OzzyKP]

There are very minor spoilers (at least for those who have seen the show up to the first ep of Season 4) in this link:

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Valyrian_steel

List of known Valyrian steel blades

Blades known to still exist:

Widow's Wail; One of two Valyrian blades reforged by Tobho Mott from Ice. The blade was made for King Joffrey Baratheon as a wedding gift by his grandfather, Lord Tywin. Where it was given its name from the shouted suggestion of an unnamed guest. Following Joffrey's death, ownership of Widow's Wail has presumably passed to his younger brother, King Tommen.
Oathkeeper; One of two Valyrian blades reforged by Tobho Mott from Ice. The blade was made for Ser Jaime Lannister, but he has given it to Brienne of Tarth for use in her quest to locate Sansa Stark. The blade was given its name, Oathkeeper, at that time.
Heartsbane, the ancestral two handed greatsword of House Tarly, currently in the possession of Lord Randyll Tarly.
Longclaw, the ancestral Valyrian steel bastard sword of House Mormont. Currently in the possession of Jon Snow.
Lady Forlorn, the ancestral sword of House Corbray, it is currently in the possession of Ser Lyn Corbray.
Red Rain, the sword of House Drumm stolen in a raid. Given the name and coloring, possibly the ancestral sword of House Reyne
Nightfall, the ancestral blade of House Harlaw and currently wielded by Ser Harras Harlaw.
The dagger with dragonbone hilt wielded by Bran Stark's failed assassin, and currently in the possession of Petyr Baelish.
A Valyrian steel axe possessed by House Celtigar [3].
Valyrian steel Arakh owned by Caggo [4].

So Valyrian steel swords are super, super rare and Bran's assassin had one? Given to him by the Lannisters? Who have never had one before, but decide to give one to a random assassin.

[pchang]

The implication is that Valyrian steel is significantly harder/more durable and can hold a sharper edge. Sharpening it and using it to hack a few random items would expose a fake pretty quickly.

[Dinner]

Two quick queries for the book readers-

1- Are there any swords in Westeros not made of Valerian steel?

2- Does Westeros have a huge and thriving fake sword industry?

Each each great family (or at least most of them) have a Valerian steel sword which gets passed down from one head to the next. When they're lost there is no getting a replacement (which is the problem the Lannisters had). The books don't mention fake Valerian steel makers but, logically, there should be some.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I'm going to write a scene in which Bron gets given a sword and asked to name it. He opts for "Stabbybastard".

[Imran Siddiqui]

There are very minor spoilers (at least for those who have seen the show up to the first ep of Season 4) in this link:

http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Valyrian_steel

List of known Valyrian steel blades

Blades known to still exist:

Widow's Wail; One of two Valyrian blades reforged by Tobho Mott from Ice. The blade was made for King Joffrey Baratheon as a wedding gift by his grandfather, Lord Tywin. Where it was given its name from the shouted suggestion of an unnamed guest. Following Joffrey's death, ownership of Widow's Wail has presumably passed to his younger brother, King Tommen.
Oathkeeper; One of two Valyrian blades reforged by Tobho Mott from Ice. The blade was made for Ser Jaime Lannister, but he has given it to Brienne of Tarth for use in her quest to locate Sansa Stark. The blade was given its name, Oathkeeper, at that time.
Heartsbane, the ancestral two handed greatsword of House Tarly, currently in the possession of Lord Randyll Tarly.
Longclaw, the ancestral Valyrian steel bastard sword of House Mormont. Currently in the possession of Jon Snow.
Lady Forlorn, the ancestral sword of House Corbray, it is currently in the possession of Ser Lyn Corbray.
Red Rain, the sword of House Drumm stolen in a raid. Given the name and coloring, possibly the ancestral sword of House Reyne
Nightfall, the ancestral blade of House Harlaw and currently wielded by Ser Harras Harlaw.
The dagger with dragonbone hilt wielded by Bran Stark's failed assassin, and currently in the possession of Petyr Baelish.
A Valyrian steel axe possessed by House Celtigar [3].
Valyrian steel Arakh owned by Caggo [4].

Blades with known fate:

Ice, the ancestral two handed greatsword of House Stark. Following Eddard Stark's execution in King's Landing, it was melted down and reforged into two longswords(those being Widow's Wail and Oathkeeper).

Blades with unknown fate:

Blackfyre, the sword of Aegon I Targaryen. Carried by all Targaryen kings till Aegon IV who gave it to his bastard Daemon Blackfyre who rose in rebellion against the Targaryens, taking the sword's name for his house. Its whereabouts are currently unknown.
Brightroar, the ancestral sword of House Lannister, lost when King Tommen II Lannister of the Rock sailed to Valyria and never returned.
Dark Sister, the sword wielded by Visenya Targaryen. The last known owner was Bloodraven.
Vigilance, ancestral sword of House Hightower. [5]
Orphan-Maker, ancestral sword of House Roxton. [5]

[regexcellent]

I think Valyrian steel is supposed to have some smokey appearance or some **** like that. But fake valyrian steel is never addressed.

[Lorizael]

They would know it's a fake because Valyria is spelled wrong. At least, the literate ones would.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

2. Define fake

Like when a sword is stamped "Made in Valeria" (which is what I presume happens. If it doesn't, they must all be metallurgists with little electron microscopes in their fingertips) but actually come from a mail order place in the Westeros equivalent of Chennai. That sort of fake.

[regexcellent]

Two quick queries for the book readers-

1- Are there any swords in Westeros not made of Valerian steel?

2- Does Westeros have a huge and thriving fake sword industry?

1. Yes, most of them, just not many we care about.
2. Define fake

I think so far we've only seen Jon's sword, Ned's sword, and the swords made from Ned's sword, and Joffrey's knife. Other valyrian steel blades in the story include Lyn Corbray's sword, umm...and I can't think of any others. Oh yeah. Arthur Dayne's sword. But you haven't heard of him because they skipped that part of the books, which would have been in season 1.

[Lorizael]

Booyah.