US 2020 Election and Pandemic Game of Thrones

US 2020 Election and Pandemic Game of Thrones

Introduction

During this time when the Pandemic kept many at home and reliant on their TV sets to keep them sane, Netflix and Amazon Prime really came to the rescue.  Other streaming services helped out too.  With all this entertainment available at the touch of a button, by far the most entertaining thing to watch on TV this year was the news.  I don’t think I have ever watched so much CNN for such a sustained period of time as I did this past year.  Aside from the fact watching the news was literally a matter of life and death, the US elections with all the back and forth that came with it, gave us a stunning array of characters, speeches, and enough political intrigue to occupy Political Science classes for decades to come.

With all that has happened, and continues to happen, I thought I would have a little fun and assign each real person in the still unfolding US drama with Game of Thrones characters.  Millions of people are familiar with what could be the greatest TV series of all time.  I think everyone knows the series is based on a group of books written by George R R Martin entitled A Song of Ice and Fire.  Fans are awaiting the final two books in the series.  For my characterization then I’ll set out some of the principles I used in assigning these characters to individuals.

First, I primarily use the books and not the series when assessing characters.  I do this because, as great as the series was, the books are better.  I also do not know whether the end of the series mirrors what Martin intends and therefore I do not know whether the fate of the characters mirrors what Martin intends.  There are some instances, however, where I draw upon the series.  For example, the character of Sansa Stark is more developed in the series than it is in the books because in the books, Sansa is just beginning to come into her own whereas in the series, Sansa’s fate has already been fully developed.  While what Sansa does in the series may differ from what she will do in the books, and I suspect there will be quite a difference, I believe her character in both match and it is the character of the characters I emphasize here, not their story arcs.

Second, some characters in both the series and books are ugly.  The series shields us somewhat from the descriptions of physical ugliness Martin gives us in the books.  Tyrion Lannister and Brienne of Tarth are far uglier physically in the books than they are in the series.  When I assign a person to these characters, I am in no way making any comment on their looks.  My assignments are based on the character in the person so any association with a real person should not be seen as a commentary on my part upon their physical appearance.

Third and last, while I make every effort to match genders, I do not always do so.  When a real person’s gender differs from the Martin character, it is because I think their character match outweighs the need to match gender.

I am a Democrat so Republicans tend to get bad guy characters, so perhaps Republican readers won’t find this as amusing as Democrat readers. With all this in mind, let us proceed and hopefully have some fun.

King Joffrey is President Donald J. Trump

This is the easiest of all character assignments.  Trump behaves like a child.  He is petulant and vengeful.  He likes sycophantic praise and hangers on.  He has many enablers, and loyalty to him is a one-way street.  So long as you continually cater to his whims, you are OK but the minute you don’t do or say what he wants, no matter how loyal you have been to him in the past, you face his wrath.

I think King Joffrey may be the most hated literary character of all time.  It is amazing how many people wanted him dead.  Trump is easily the most hated president in American history even though he has a lot of followers as well.  Having said that, a lot of people voted for Trump because they wanted something from him, not because they liked him.  In A Song of Ice and Fire, a lot of people followed Joffrey and the Lannisters precisely for the same reason.  No one really liked Joffrey but he was the king so people felt they had to go along with him.

If ever there was a literary character sprung to real life, Donald Trump as King Joffrey is it.

Cersei Lannister as Kayleigh McEnany but with Some Honorable Mentions

 

For Cersei I chose someone who is front and center.  It is true that McEnany never had designs to be President or rule, but she has been the most public facing woman in the Trump administration during this election.  And can you think of a more annoying press secretary?  She is obviously intelligent, but she has that snarky attitude of hers and says things completely out of touch with reality.

Cersei Lannister is actually a very complex character.  I sometimes find myself feeling sorry for her.  She was forced to marry someone she didn’t love and who really treated her poorly.  Her intellect was overlooked because she is a woman, and she was told she would lose all of her children.  While she has many elements that draw our sympathy, she is also a bitch in every sense of the word and does horrible things.

I sometimes feel sorry for Kayleigh because she has to defend a boss which is indefensible and she tries her best.  But no one put a gun to her head to take the job and her arrogant attitude and blatant falsehoods make up for any sympathy she might otherwise generate.

I have two honorable mentions for Cersei.  The first is Kellyanne Conway.  She is very competent in her own way, playing a huge role in getting Trump elected in 2016.  She too is arrogant and seems to have a chip on her shoulder because people overlook her abilities because she is a woman.  She also has issues with her children just as Cersei does.  I did not choose her though because she is not as front and center as she once was.

Another honorable mention is Hillary Clinton.  In many ways, she is the best candidate.  She was once queen as in First Lady.  Her husband did not treat her well as we all know, and she definitely had, and possibly still has, ambitions for ruling America.  She is also a bitch at times.  She is very cunning, very smart, and generally not liked.  I will leave the reader to choose which Cersei candidate fits best.

Jaime Lannister as Mitt Romney

Jaime Lannister is an amazing literary character.  You start out by despising him.  Not only is he guilty of incest with his sister, he tries to murder a ten-year-old child.  He is also the guy who killed the last king before King Robert and it is not until much later you discover the mitigating circumstances behind that killing.  Basically, you just want him dead.  But as the series develops, particularly in the books, he becomes one of the most beloved characters in the series.  He is never purely good and he never has a single come to Jesus moment, but he gradually transforms into someone you really like. 

In 2012 when Mitt Romney ran against Obama, he was the bad guy for Democrats like me.  I went after his policies and his record.  But I did so as someone who questioned his policies, not really as one who questioned his character.  I did find Romney dodged questions quite a lot and was a bit of a used car salesman at times.  Was he related to Joe Isuzu?  But overall I would say my views were those one has during any normal contested election.

Romney has consistently been a critic of President Joffrey.  And as these last four years have unfolded, I find myself liking the guy more and more.  He was the only Republican to vote in favor of impeachment.  He consistently denounces Trump as the failed President he is.  Democrats increasingly rely on Mitt in their fight against Trump.  And yet, just as Jaime is still a Lannister, Romney is still a Republican and he will only go so far.  He still believes in Republican principles such as fiscal conservatism and states rights.  These are not just empty beliefs to Romney.  He genuinely believes in those things.  Mitt Romney is the closest thing to Jaime Lannister we have.

Tyrion Lannister as Mary Trump

Here I obviously broke gender matching.  Tyrion is my favorite character of the series along with Jon Snow.  Tyrion is also one of the best literary characters ever created in any genre.  He is such a complex character who is such a mixture of good and bad.  I also think he was brilliantly cast in the series but I also think his character was wasted toward the end.  He comes across in the series as an ineffectual good-guy and I hope Martin does something different with him in the books.

Mary Trump is so analogous in terms of character.  She was mistreated by her ruling family.  Check.  She has a vendetta against that family.  Check.  Part of her motivation in writing her book about Donald Trump may be to help the American people guard against him, but she also wants money and this is her way to get some revenge.  In other words, her motives are not pure, but I find myself fully behind her.  When she is being interviewed on TV I always pay attention to what she is saying.  She is also very smart.  Tyrion is also extremely intelligent.  Both perceive things clearly and realistically.  I am sure the Trump family hates Mary as much as the Lannisters, minus Jaime, hates Tyrion. 

I hope Mary kicks butt in her lawsuit against the Trump family and I have appreciated her insights into her uncle during the election.  I know her motives are not pure, but just like my attitude with   regard to Tyrion, I don’t care.  I want them both to succeed.  And yes, I bought her book.

Tywin Lannister as Mitch McConnel

Tywin Lannister is, put simply, a cold hearted bastard.  He is the ultimate manipulator and politician.  Despite the fact you hate his guts, you have to give it to him.  He plays the game well.  Yes he dies in the end, but things go to hell for the Lannisters without his leadership.  Tywin Lannister is brilliant in his own way.  He knows how to play the game, and more importantly, he knows the true nature of the game. 

Mitch McConnel is probably one of the shrewdest politicians America has ever had.  He will do whatever it takes to advance his agenda and he will have things done his way or not at all.  When he speaks, he has the charisma of a fart in church when holy communion is being administered.  He often sounds robotic.  I see Tywin that way.  Tywin wants to advance his family and he cuts off any emotions he might have to advance his cause.  When McConnell made his speech calling on everyone to affirm Biden, you knew he did this because it was in his political interest to do so.  Had it been in his interest to go the other way, he probably would have.

Jon Snow as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

New York was hit hardest early on.  Governor Cuomo kept sending messages to King’s Landing, a.k.a. Washington DC for more of everything:  more ventilators,  more PPE, more equipment, more health workers.  He told the nation Winter is coming.  I mean he did this literally in the sense he warned that if we didn’t do something right away, the next Winter would be bad.  He told us the virus was far worse and that it would get worse.  He told us we were not prepared and we needed to drop all other concerns and get prepared or the white walkers, a.k.a. Covid-19 would overwhelm us all.

While everyone at King’s Landing was busy with other concerns, The Wall was in trouble and needed help.  In response, Cuomo’s enemies said:  “You know nothing!”.  I’m going to speculate that Andrew Cuomo’s wife has said the same thing to him over the years on occasion.  “You know nothing Jon Snow” was always a favorite line from the series and this is essentially what Andrew Cuomo was told over and over again.

And there is one more thing.  Is Andrew Cuomo just a governor?  Might he not make a good President?  I confess I hoped Cuomo would run because I thought he had a better chance than Biden did of winning.  Of course when I thought that, I assumed even Trump would sort of cope with the pandemic.  Just as R + L = J making Jon Snow the rightful ruler of Westeros, perhaps Andrew Cuomo would make a good President of the United States some day. 

Rob Stark as Pete Buttigieg

I think every Democrat likes Pete.  Pete wanted to be President.  He certainly has the brains and charisma to be President.  But just as Rob Stark was thrust into kingship a little before he was ready, Pete Buttigieg is not quite ready to be President yet.  Fortunately, he hasn’t had the political equivalent of the Red Wedding and I hope he never does.  He is young, brash, smart, and good, just like Rob Stark was.  But Pete is not quite ready to rule Westeros just yet.  Perhaps a little later, that will change.  You always thought Rob Stark would grow into being a good king and I think Buttigieg will too.

Sansa Stark as Kaitlin Collins

Kaitlin Collins is one of two reporters who made it into the character list.  Collins seems like a very nice and mild-mannered person.  The Trump administration despises her, but they had to tolerate her because, you know, freedom of the press and all that.  Sansa Stark spent a lot of time at King’s Landing and though she was at first captivated by it all, she soon became aware she was in enemy territory.  Cersei and many others in the court, including Joffrey himself, tolerated her because she was a Stark.  They felt they had to put up with her, but they did not like it.

In the series, Sansa becomes a formidable character who becomes the Ruler of the North and is also independent of King’s Landing.  In the books, you get the feeling Sansa will also become a formidable character although that has not quite yet manifested.  She seems very mild-mannered on the surface, but there is a keen brain underneath that manner and I think Little Finger in the books will realize she is not just a pawn, just as the Little Finger in the series learns this in his last moments.

Kaitlin Collins has also risen in the world.  When the Biden administration takes power, she will become CNN’s Chief Whitehouse Correspondent replacing the very competent Jim Acosta.  Her rise has already begun and I can see future administrations, including the Biden administration being forced to take her seriously if they don’t already.

My dream is that one day UFC will sponsor a special fight between Kaitlin Collins and Kayleigh McEnany.  You know Kayleigh just wants to belt her.  I would pay to see that fight.

Arya Stark as Kamala Harris

Everyone likes Arya while not everyone likes Harris.  So why did I choose her for Arya?  I did so because Kamala Harris has a lot of kick butt in her.  Before she became Vice President Elect, you did not want to be grilled by her in congress.  She took no prisoners.  If Harris was born and raised in Westeros, I can see her having a list of people she would like to bump off in a righteous crusade.  Come on, you know that’s true.

At the same time, Arya can be quiet and endearing.  She is a little girl after all.  Harris is not a little girl of course, but ever since she was nominated to be Joe Biden’s running mate, she has toned things down quite a bit.  She is towing the party line.  She is doing and saying all the right things.  But you know that deep down, she has Needle, and she is willing to use it politically speaking.  When she ran in the primaries, she was smart, but did not really know the game.  Her campaign was not run well.  With Biden as her mentor, she is now learning the game.  Who are you?  I am no one, she says.  I’m just a meek and loyal vice president learning the craft.  But when I’m ready, look out!

Brandon (Bran) Stark as South Carolina Representative James Clyburn

I think Bran is the character the series got the most wrong when compared to the books.  Don’t get me wrong.  Overall, I believe the series did a wonderful job representing the Martin characters, even if their story arcs did not always end the way we would have wanted.  But I think they missed on Bran.  The Bran of the books is a much more sympathetic character than the Bran of the Series.  Another problem with Bran in the series is he never really did anything.  In the books, Bran hasn’t really done much yet, but you know he will.  You just know it.

James Clyburn seems to be the most far seeing politician out there.  A close friend of John Lewis, he is calm and thinks clearly.  If there is a three-eyed crow in politics, he’s it.  I would be shocked if the Bran of the books ends up ruling Westeros as he does in the series and I doubt Clyburn will ever be president.  But he seems to command the respect of just about everyone.  At least publicly, he is quiet and soft spoken and gives good advice, calling out what will be while accurately representing what is.

Olenna Tyrell as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

If Pelosi lived in Westeros, or ancient Persia for that matter, you could see her poisoning the king.    Search your feelings, you know this to be true.  This was the second easiest Song of Ice and Fire assignment.  Pelosi can come across as a kindly grandmother who says all the right things.  But there is steel there and I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side.  She can be just as ruthless as Mitch McConnell and knows the political game just as well. 

 

As a democrat, I usually find myself agreeing with her.  She fights for many of the things I hold as important.  But I am not deceived.  She is crafty and, more importantly for this latest election, she is King Joffrey’s number one enemy and the person he should be most afraid of.  Everyone who knows anything about politics knows Pelosi is the one you will have to contend with, just as everyone who knows anything about politics in Westeros knows that Olenna Tyrell, otherwise known as The Queen of Thorns is someone you have to deal with one way or the other.  The fact she bumps off Joffrey should give her immunity from any hatred or backlash because really, she did the Seven Kingdoms a big favor while at the same time causing a civil war. 

 

I doubt Pelosi will ever get a Christmas card from anyone in the Trump family, except perhaps from Mary Trump. 

 

Daenerys Targaryen As Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Firstly, hats off to Microsoft.  I mistyped Targaryen but Word corrected me.  How cool is that when a character from A Song of Ice and Fire makes it into Word’s standard dictionary. 

 

For Daenerys, I am definitely sticking to the books.  In the series, she becomes insane and while I’m not sure this will happen in the books – I wouldn’t put it past Martin – she hasn’t gone there yet.  She is still a powerful queen who is vulnerable at times.  Gretchen Whitmer was on Trump’s hit list.  She may literally have been on his hit list because there was a plot to kidnap and assassinate her.  She stood up against the Joffrey in the White House, politically, and then on the Covid-19 issue.  In the books, there were numerous plots to assassinate her along with any surviving Targaryen so she and Governor Whitmer have that in common.

 

I find Whitmer very courageous and I think her humanity shows through while she is being valiant.  She obviously has enough charisma to be elected governor and she has a backbone to go along with that charisma.  Despite relentless and ruthless criticism from Trump and those who follow him, Whitmer maintained support from the majority of people in her state.  She was a candidate for Vice President but was not chosen in the end.

 

In the books, Daenerys dithers somewhat.  She still hasn’t returned to Westeros to claim her rightful place.  Some feel Whitmer should be more ambitious.  Perhaps she does not want to be President, or perhaps she is biding her time.  But she has the charisma and brains to run at some point in my view and anyone who underestimates her is foolish.  Trump refers to her simply as “that woman.” And you can tell Trump would have liked nothing more than for that assassination plot to have succeeded.  Fortunately, as with Daenerys, it did not and she still stands tall.  And if Whitmer has a Drogon, it has to be Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.  She was magnificent when the election was contested.  Benson ran a great election under immense pressure. 

 

Margery Tyrell as Deborah Birx

Margery was a hard one to cast.  Natalie Dormer played her in the series and I must say, she is freaking gorgeous.  But as I said in the introduction, I am not taking physical appearance into consideration.  In the books, Margery is an enigma.  What are her plans?  She seems to be loyal to the throne, but is she?  She is powerful in her own right so any ruling faction would love to have her on their side, but she has her own agenda as well, or does she? 

 

You could tell Deborah Birx was sometimes floored by Trump’s stupidity.  The look on her face when Trump speculated on the merits of injecting bleach is an image which will be forever stamped into my brain.  She does believe in the chain of command, though, so Birx had two contradicting agendas, just as Margery does.  She wanted to do what was right for the nation medically, while at the same time respect the chain of command and adopt military style loyalty.  She tried her best to do both and still managed to be criticized. 

 

What will Margery do is a question I await with anticipation and, I have been waiting, and waiting.  I don’t like her fate in the series.  She just gets wiped out before really doing much.  Let’s hope that doesn’t happen in the upcoming books, if we ever get those.

 

Beric Donderrion AS Bernie Sanders

Beric Donderrion started in the mainstream but eventually became an outlaw.  He fights for the poor and under privileged.  He has been killed many times and has been resurrected by the Lord of Light.  He and his band are a check against those who would oppress the lowly. 

 

Bernie Sanders started off in the mainstream but has since shifted to what is considered the more radical left of the Democratic Party.  He is actually an independent.  He has tried to run for President but has been defeated on a number of occasions.  Like Beric, though, he keeps coming back.  He is a powerful speaker and there are many who follow him, mostly the young and the poor.  He will probably never be President now.  He is too old just as Beric seems to be running out of lives.  Both fight for justice and equity for the oppressed and both are considered too radical to allow them to have any real power.

 

Gregor Clegane as Sean Hannity

Gregor is a brute who takes pleasure in attacking others.  He is very useful to the Lannisters in the sense that every ruler needs attack dogs.  If you need to beat someone down, sick Gregor on them.

Sean Hannity is a relentless attack dog who constantly criticizes liberals even to the point of farce in my opinion.  Whenever Trump needs an attack dog, he can rely on Hannity.  After the January 6 coup attempt, the best Hannity could manage was to attack Anderson Cooper, the CNN anchor for being condescending.  Sean Hannity will blame everything and anything on Trump’s enemies even when this is blatantly wrong.  You can always count on him to spin things in favor of Trump and in exactly the way Trump wants it spun.  At times, he seems almost mindless, attacking for the sheer pleasure of it, and to get ratings of course.

 

Sandor Clegane as John Bolton

Before John Bolton became Trump’s National Security Advisor, he appeared regularly on Fox News advancing conservative causes.  Bolton is a relentless conservative with strong opinions and the ability to articulate them.  He has also demonstrated a high level of competence, whether you agree with his opinions or not.

When he became Trump’s National Security Advisor, however, he began to change.  He realized what an oaf Trump actually was and eventually resigned in disgust.  He became an anti-Trump champion while still trying to support the Republican Party.  His book The Room Where it Happened exposes a lot of dirt on Trump and really gave us an inside view of Trump’s incompetence and chaotic rule.  Trump critics loved that part of him.  However, Bolton remains a person with a high opinion of himself and is still very conservative.

Sandor Clegane doesn’t actually want to be a good guy, but he became one partly because of hatred and disgust for his Lannister masters, but also because deep down, he is good, though he does not want to admit it.  When he helps Arya, he remains gruff and still retains nastiness.  Like Bolton, he fights against a despotic ruler, but he can still grate on you.  Sandor is one of the best fighters in Westeros but he is a loose canon.  Both sides question his motives and dislike him.  The only people who do like him are Arya, and the readers of the series.  I was glad Sandor continued past A Storm of Swords in the series because I like the character.  I hope he makes a miraculous recovery in The Winds of Winter if Martin ever finishes the bloody thing and publishes it.

Why didn’t Bolton resign earlier to reveal the truth to the American public?  Was it because he wanted lots of money from his book deal?  Perhaps Bolton should have spoken out sooner, but he has eventually spoken out.  His motives are questionable, but the content of what he reveals is highly interesting and something the American people need to know.  He is a not so good, good guy just like Sandor.

Grand Maester Pycelle as Vice President Mike Pence

Maester Pycelle is a boot licker of the highest order.  He does what serves him and he thinks what serves him is what serves the Lannisters.  He is supposed to do what is best for everyone, but does what is best for himself.  He is a sanctimonious SOB as well, using his office to pretend like he is above the political machinations of ordinary men.

 

Mike Pence cloaks himself in evangelical religion.  He seems so pious.  Yet he has supported President Joffrey in everything he has done and is really interested solely in his own political advancement.  He was a disaster leading the coronavirus task force and like Pycelle, he is more coward than anything else.

 

Doran Martell as Joe Biden

We have to have Joe Biden somewhere and here is where he landed.  The Prince of Dorn is very cautious and very frail.  Biden is, let’s face it, a little frail and vulnerable.  And according to Trump and Fox News, Biden also had dementia.  He waged an amazing campaign much of which was from his basement so to speak.  The Right still cannot understand how someone won without holding large rallies and mingling with the public.  Biden socially distanced and generally had a cautious reconciliatory tone to his campaign.  But it was all part of the plan.

It looks like Dorn’s plans are not going to work out, at least that’s how it looks in the books for the moment.  We thought perhaps the Prince of Dorn was OK with the Lannisters but now we know he was trying to overthrow them all along.  Biden seems to get along with his Republican colleagues but just when the Republicans thought they could walk all over him, they discovered they lost the White House, and they lost the Senate.  The guy who wears a mask and campaigns from a distance was the master planner all along.

Petyr Baelish (Little Finger) as Steven Mnuchin

Steven Mnuchin is the Treasury Secretary.  Like Baelish, Mnuchin controls the money.  No one really likes him if we are to believe John Bolton anyway, but someone has to look after the money.  Mnuchin managed a hedge fund prior to his stint as Treasury Secretary so he is used to catering for the rich while enriching himself.  I don’t know if his fund managed brothels like Baelish does, but unless he managed an ethical fund, he might as well have in my opinion.

Baelish does have some sympathetic characteristics.  He loved a woman who was above his station and so could never have her.  You have to feel sorry for someone like this.  But Baelish has a chip on his shoulder because of this and has managed to carve out an important place for himself.  Mnuchin is not a stupid man and he thinks quite highly of himself, and it shows.  You get the feeling he would like to have the power, but doesn’t have the clout to pull it off so he is destined to remain in the shadows.

As for Little Finger in the books, he may actually get some power although I think Sansa will turn on him just as she does in the series.  Like so many of Martin’s characters, Little Finger is a complex character.  He has some good and some bad.  His masters are just as likely to turn on him as they are to call on him for support.  Mnuchin is in the same boat.  He negotiated the $600 stimulus checks thinking that is what his masters wanted, only to be thrown under the bus by his master President Joffrey.  And really, if ever there was a Treasury Secretary who deserved to be thrown under the bus, Mnuchin qualifies in spades.

Brienne of Tarth as Stacey Abrams

Brienne is honorable in every way imaginable.  In fact, although she is a woman, Brienne is one of the few true noble knights of Westeros.  When she pledges herself to something, she carries through no matter what the cost is to herself.  Stacey Abrams is just such a person.  After she lost her bid to become Governor of Georgia, she devoted herself to voter rights.  She supported other Georgia candidates in this election by making sure everyone who could vote was registered.  Abrams is a fighter.  I would not want to oppose her.  She is steadfast, honorable, and not someone you want to mess with.  Just ask two recent Georgia senators along with President Trump.  Abrams is more responsible for Georgia’s massive blue flip than anyone else. 

If American democracy called for chivalry and honor, Abrams is the embodiment of both.  Highly competent, she has proven herself to be an organizer of the first order.

 

Sir Davos Seaworth as Dr Anthony Fauci

Have we ever had a public figure in the midst of such a crisis as this pandemic who gives sage advice while coming across as the nation’s father figure?  Anthony Fauci hasn’t always been right, but he has always tried to do the right thing and he has been right 99% of the time.  And like his A Song of Ice and Fire match, Fauci has received criticism from the ruling party.  The Lannisters called Sir Davos The Onion Knight in a mocking way while Trump supporters accused Fauci of trying to undermine the president.

 

Dr Fauci has always done his best to keep politics out of his health advice and has become the one Americans trust the most with regard to the pandemic.  Actually, he is trusted and respected all over the world.  In the books, and indeed the series, you can always count on Sir Davos to give good and sound advice from the heart.  He has seen it all and admits his own mistakes.  There is no guile in Sir Davos and Dr Fauci certainly comes across that way in real life.

 

Septon Meribald as The Late John Lewis

I thought I would end this with a special tribute to the Late John Lewis who died last year during the height of this pandemic.  Septon Meribald never appeared in the TV series, and he only makes a short appearance in A Feast For Crows but he represents everything a man of faith should be.  In Martin’s saga, many of the religious figures are either zealots or corrupt although a few are trying to do the right thing but are generally misguided.  Septon Meribald is a simple man.  He travels barefoot around the countryside with his faithful hound whom he named Dog.  He helps the poor and preaches his simple brand of religion.  He is loved by all.

 

Meribald was once a warrior and a womanizer.  Seeing this led him nowhere, he decided to devote himself to this simple life of charity and piety.  John Lewis began as a firebrand for civil rights.  When he met Dr Martin Luther King Jr, he learned the way of peace.  John Lewis believed in nonviolence but he also believed in getting into “good trouble.”  He devoted his life to his beliefs and to helping others.  May he rest in peace and I am sure he is doing exactly that right now.  In my opinion, he embodied what a true Christian should both in his life and in his words.