Author: KA Byrnes

BRIENNE OF TARTH (BOOK), NINE

She wins the melee tournament, defeating Ser Loras at the end. She’s large, strong, a trained warrior, and ugly. Catelyn pities her for this, but even more for the look Brienne gives Renly when she asks to be named to his honor guard. Young. Naive. A heart to be broken.

It goes without saying that she’s a Body Type. She’s a medieval superhero. To fight this well, especially in an era when every social convention would contradict you, you must need it in your bones. This is a Nine. The strength and competency combined with her personal gentility are the key traits.

Brienne is a wonderful character, and it’s a shame to cut to the chase so soon, but her Enneagram number is easy to spot with only one chapter of information. I am distrustful of George R. R. Martin’s skill in writing women. I have found the main characters — Catelyn, Daenerys, Arya — contradictory and arbitrary at times. I’m going to peg Brienne here, mostly because I don’t trust the rest of the writing about her to be consistent. At this point, she’s very clear.

Rosings

The latest track for Argent is now live at bandcamp.

I recorded this song very differently. Musescore, the composing software I use, will playback the song. Instead of just writing melody and chords, this time I notated an orchestral score. What you hear is the computer playing the sheet music, and a vocal track I laid over. I feel like my experience with notation, reading and writing, might be my greatest strength as a musician. (Since I’m so very amateur at guitar, lol.) Anyway, here’s the simplified music. The orchestral score is an immense file, so I won’t post it.

you
If you were my bell
If you were my well
but you’re you

A voice like clear water
a face like a star
my tongue turns to butter
whenever you are
you

you
If you were my clerk
If you were my park
but you’re you

you
why can’t I talk to

you
If you were my lake
If you were my fate
but you’re you

A voice like clear water
a face like a star
my tongue turns to butter
whenever you are
you

Where No Man Has Gone Before

This episode is a structural disaster. I’ve left detailed impressions at the Four and Five, in case you can spot a Three and Six yourself. I won’t be offended if you skim past, though. If you do, see my recap after the Nine.

ONE

Space, with Captain’s log, over. Ahead is a recorded distress signal from a ship listed as missing two centuries ago.

Okay, weirdness. The camera pulls back from a little view screen of outer space, the image we’ve been watching, to show Kirk and Spock playing 3-D chess. Spock, in a yellow shirt and with bushier eyebrows, looks non-canon. And his makeup makes his skin yellow. I can’t concentrate on the plot!

Kirk contemplates this odd distress message while Spock challenges him to make his chess move. They banter, waiting, until the bridge signals. This lounge, well-lit and well-populated, is a real set, nothing like the cardboard-walled rec room from the last episode.

TWO

Transporter room. It’s Scotty! Yay, finally! Like Spock, he also wears the gold jersey. The mystery item with the signal is beamed in. It looks like a probe, and Spock says it was ejected when its ship was damaged. Rut-roh, it starts to blink and beep, transmitting something. All decks go on alert.

Roll credits.

THREE

(There is no Three.)

Continue reading “Where No Man Has Gone Before”

SCAREDY PANTS

ONE

A skeleton on a sunken ship, a spider in snorkel gear — it’s a Halloween episode. The French narrator tells us so. “Everyone’s having fun.” The Krusty Krab has a big sign out front and some nice jack-o-lanterns.

TWO

“Well, almost everyone.” Inside the KK kitchen, Spongebob jumps at a sound. Washing dishes, he quickly turns when the order rack makes a sinister chuckling-like squeak. He rushes through the rest of the pile, breaking some plates, and declares he’s done.

Krabs blocks the door. Don’t you want to hear my scary story? No. But . . . he can’t resist. Krabs sets up a campfire just inside the front door and they sit around it.

THREE

Ooh! It’s a Flying Dutchman story! Yay!

(What a great Three: Introduce the idea of the Dutchman. Wait until the Six!)

Continue reading “SCAREDY PANTS”

Episode 4

ONE

The Downton Fair sets up in the village, introduced with a lengthy shot of the announcement poster. 

TWO

Bates, Gwen, and Anna walk through the construction, excited to get a group together for the opening. Anna, seeing Lady Mary also in the square, sends the others on home. It gives the two women a chance to recap the dead-man-carry experience and share a friendly moment.

Robert at his desk, loyal dog at his feet, is ready to meet the new chauffeur. Here’s Branson! His story purpose in this episode is the “how times are changing” plot. One plotline always carries this theme.

The Dowager and Cora have tea on the lawn as they discuss Mary’s prospects. They’re not giving up. They’ll need a lawyer to fully examine this entail tangle, and Violet knows just the person.

THREE

(There is no Three.) 

The moment above references Mary, the person we need at this beat. The Six makes that clear. I won’t count a discussion of Mary as the Three, though, because this scene is a Two mirror for the Eight. Mary’s trouble with the inheritance is part of the climax. It can’t play double duty as a Two and as a Three. The resolution of the entail is critical at the Eight, and this outdoor tea sets all that up. One quick little Mary moment at this beat, herself, in person, would’ve sufficed.

How very strange and disappointing. The next scene is clearly Four stuff, though, so here we are.

Continue reading “Episode 4”

JOFFREY (BOOK), FOUR

He’s tall, handsome, and next in line to the throne. He’s got it all and he knows it. Why should he be nice?

Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt at the beginning. He’s spoiled and privileged. That doesn’t mean he’s intrinsically awful. When he rides out with Sansa he shows her a lovely day in a beautiful countryside. It’s only with Arya that his dark side emerges. 

For a while he seems like a rich boy, petted and selfish. Underneath, though, is a liking for cruelty. He’s not that different from little Robert Arryn, the breastfeeding lordling. He wants to see people fly through his own version of the Moon Door just because he can.

Benefit of the doubt officially over.

He’s a monster, but here’s what’s interesting. When he becomes king he immediately behaves as a tyrant. There’s no warm-up, no testing the waters of power. It’s not politics for him. He just is this way. The only difference is that now no one can tell him to stop. Before this he seemed possibly juvenile. But he’s a sadist. He enjoys the pain.

He’s passive until the throne is brought to him by his father’s death. He doesn’t engage in politics and he makes no effort to learn. When he sits on the throne and rules, cruel whim informs his decisions. Law and justice mean nothing to him. He’s no Head Type.

And he’s no Body Type. Little Arya beats him up. Weapons training is not something he pursues with passion.

So, Heart. Two, Three, or Four?

He’s not clever. Sansa talks rings around him. So does The Hound. He’s not nice enough to be a Two and not successful enough to be a Three. (His mother got him the throne. And no one likes him there.) That leaves a nasty Four. That explains his ability to misdirect people with his prettiness. Smoke and mirrors.

Bato of the Water Tribe

ONE

We’re near some body of water, and our team finds a whale tooth knife. Sokka has a memory of such a weapon.

TWO

It’s a Water Tribe knife. He starts tracking. At the shore they find a boat. It’s one of ours — Dad was here!

Meanwhile, Iroh is having tea with Zuko. A peaceful moment. Crash! A beast, a shirshu named Nyla, and her handler, June, seek a stowaway on Zuko’s ship. To Zuko’s surprise he is actually harboring someone. Nyla’s tongue whips out and paralyzes the man.

Back at camp, Appa and the team sleep.

THREE

Sokka has a memory of when he was probably ten years old as he says goodbye to his father. He’s crying, he wants to go with them, but he’s too young.

Continue reading “Bato of the Water Tribe”

STANNIS BARATHEON (BOOK), FOUR

Why did Stannis leave? He was going places — investigating? — with Jon Arryn before his death, and now Stannis has abandoned King’s Landing. Apparently he’s either too careful to succeed or he’s a coward. Also, he’s quite a prude and no one likes him. So there.

Seat Stannis on the throne and the realm will bleed.

My God, he’s bitter. He’s steeped in poison of his own thoughts. He’s a resentful person, envious of Renly. And Ned. Wow, is Stannis a horrible, small-minded tyrant. However, he’s not kind, he’s not successful, and he’s not witty. None of the Heart Types fit him.

One goes to Four in weakness. The WHAMming (What About Me?), the envy, are part of that slide. The obsession with rules and details are the One side. He’s petty and selfish, with none of the charm of either number. A turn toward Seven would be a strength move. You can see how if he considered his options — join with Renly, join with Winterfell — he would improve his chances. Instead he chooses the Red Woman, the occult, which narrows his odds even further. Why in the world did Ned consider this man a possible monarch? No bloodline is strong enough to make Stannis worthy.

Charlie X

ONE

The Enterprise in space, maneuvering to come alongside a cargo vessel. Captain’s log, over. Kirk wears the more formal gold shirt and heads to the transporter room. The Antares is beaming over an “unusual passenger”.

The captain and navigator come aboard, along with “young castaway” Charlie, a regular-looking human young adult. Kirk reaches to shake his hand, something Charlie takes a second to understand. We get a closeup of his face as he looks at Kirk with — awe? admiration? The two crewmen look nervous.

TWO

The captain hesitates, and we see Charlie frown and roll his eyes into his head. The two crewmen immediately begin to praise Charlie, talking over each other. Kirk gives them a look like, oookay, take it easy. They quickly drop the information that Charlie was alone on a planet, possibly for a long time.

Charlie grabs his luggage and interrupts them. Kirk frowns at him, but the other captain enthusiastically answers his question. Over 400 people on a starship! The captain is glassy-eyed as he regrets having to part with Charlie. Again, Charlie interrupts. This time Kirk corrects him. “That’s considered wrong.” It’s firm but kind instruction. Now the other crew hurries to transport away.

Yeoman Janice comes in. She’s to escort Charlie. He stares at her. My beautiful basket head is here! It was probably this episode that started my girl-crush.

Roll credits.

Continue reading “Charlie X”