The Justice League of America: DC's Avengers

Fanboys will give me a lot of grief over that title. I don't care though, that's how people associate things between companies. It's easier that way. When I'm talking about this stuff in real life conversations, I tend to forget that I know more than most people. It's no big deal, I don't expect people to know what I know, that's why I'm doing this! I wouldn't have started this blog if I thought everyone knew what I was talking about! But I digress.

Today we're discussing the Avengers of the DC Comicbook Universe (DCCU), the Justice League of America (JLA). The JLA was created by Gardner Fox and made their first appearance in 1960, when they came together to battle a giant starfish. No, I'm not kidding. The cover of their first issue kind of reminds me of the first issue of Giant Sized X-Men #1 (the X-Men were the mutant Avengers, who were more popular than the Avengers were when I was growing up), where the X-Men are shown fighting Krakoa the Living Island. The Avengers (Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, & Hulk) were created 3 years (1963) later by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and were made to compete with the Justice League title DC released.

Like the Avengers, the JLA was a team comprised of DC's biggest heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. I'm guessing you at least recognize most of the names and know their abilities. Superman is easy, Batman - yeah, no duh, Wonder Woman is an Amazonian princess with super strength, speed, & agility (some versions allow her to fly; other times she fights with magic bracelets and the lasso of truth; also known to be the greatest warrior in the DCCU), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan, member of the galactic police force known as the Green Lantern Corps. His power ring is the strongest weapon in the universe; allowing him to project anything he can imagine), the Flash (fastest man alive), Aquaman (super strong, breathes underwater, talks to fish; also the King of Atlantis), and Martian Manhunter (real name: J'onn J'onzz or John Jones on Earth. He's from Mars, and can fly, shapeshift into any form, and is a powerful telepath). They're much different than the Avengers right? And that's just the original lineup.

The Avengers have more of a rag tag group of super powered people brought together to fight a common evil. While the Justice League seem to have been assembled for the same purpose, but also because they're the most powerful heroes in the universe. At least that's how I've always felt; it's as though DC was telling tales of gods coming to Earth and their interactions with mankind vs. the Avengers who were actually OF THE WORLD. I'm not saying one way is better than the other, that's a personal preference on the readers part. I enjoy both companies, their super teams and their stories, as both companies have unique stories to tell for each team. **I recommend Justice League of America: Tower of Babel (all about Batman and his secret plans to defeat everybody in the JLA if he had to), also Infinite Crisis and finally Kingdom Come. Those are my favorite JLA stories so far.**

Just like Marvel's Avengers, the JLA has gone through different variations of team membership through the years. The originals members always have some role to play (just like the Avengers), but the ranks of the JLA has swelled exponentially; to the point where there were JLA teams not only across the country, but across the world. For instance there was a storyline that had a bad guy run a successful smear campaign to ruin the reputation of the JLA, the team was discredited but a more powerful team replaced them. Backed by Maxwell Lord (later taking the persona of Lord Havoc for a short time, and who would also become an enemy of the League, and murdered by Wonder Woman), the United Nations formally recognized the JLA as international peacekeepers and established a teams all over the world to confront supervillains of every country. There was a Justice League: Detroit team at one point too, the members were Martian Manhunter, Zatanna (a magic user), Steel (John Henry Irons - a dude in an armored suit), Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny - like Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic 4, he could stretch his body to ridiculous lengths), Vixen (has a mystical totem that gives her abilities like an animal), Vibe (emits shockwaves that cause earthquakes), Gypsy (camouflaging powers, also can project images into other people's heads), and Aquaman. Weird line-up right? That's just a fraction of the amount of people that would be members of the JLA. **EDITOR'S NOTE: Another really great version of the JLA is Justice League Dark. A team made up of magic users and paranormal characters like John Constantine, Zatanna, Swamp Thing, Madame Xanadu, Shade, the Changing Man, Frankenstein, and Deadman. Definitely worth the read***

The Avengers did the same thing with their membership. Several years back a major complaint from hardcore fans was that, now "everybody is an Avenger" because a "controversial" new writer (Brian Michael Bendis) took over the title and formed a new team. The new team was made of Luke Cage, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, the Thing, and Doctor Strange. I, for one, loved the New Avengers! One of my favorite things to do with super heroes is see them team up with each other. From just two heroes to an entire team. So the JLA and the Avengers are a lot of fun!

The JLA would introduce me to such heroes as Captain Marvel (now called Shazam), Captain Atom (flight, atomic energy manipulation), Black Lightening (electricity manipulation powers), Booster Gold (time travel and future tech), Blue Beetle (super smart, uses lots of technology), the Red Tornado (synthetic android, like Vision in Marvel, but can rotate his body at tremendous speeds to create a tornado), Power Girl (alternate Earth's version of Supergirl), Hawkman & Hawkgirl (they are exactly how they sound, with a bit more mythology behind them), and many many others. Including the other members of the Green Lantern Corps. (John Stewart, Kyle Raynor, and Guy Gardner), and the other variations of the Flash (Barry Allen, Wally West, Bart Allen, and Jay Garrick).

One thing that novice fans should understand. DC comics LOVES their multiverse. A multiverse is basically the alternate versions of Earth in DC comics. There are an infinite number of possible versions. The most well known is Earth 2, where the heroes are just a little bit different than Earth 1. Earth 2 has the Justice SOCIETY of America with members like Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Hawkgirl, Atom-Smasher, Stargirl, Black Canary, Flash (Jay Garrick) and the Spectre. The Earth 2 heroes resembled more of the classic version of the characters ie Superman had whitening hair. First appearing in 1940, and although technically the first super team main super hero team in the DCCU, the JSA would become exclusive to Earth 2. This became DC's way of continuing to write stories for the "all-star" versions of their most popular characters. Earth 2 resembled more of the Golden Age of comic books (1930's-1950's) characters.

I guess you could say I was a JLA fan before I was an Avengers fan because I met the JLA much earlier in my life. Before I could even read there was a tv show that I loved to watch called The Super Friends. It was a super cheesy kid's tv show created in the late 70's and played from 1973-1986.

It was basically the Justice League in kid friendly situations facing their villains. I wouldn't meet the Avengers until the late 80's/early 90's. The Super Friends faced off against each member's respective bad guys, which was probably my favorite part of the show. The bad guys called themselves The Legion of Doom. They were led by Lex Luthor and their members consisted of guys like, Bizarro (Superman), Gorillia Grodd (Flash), Captain Cold (Flash), Cheetah (Wonder Woman), the Riddler (Batman), Scarecrow (Batman), Black Manta (Aquaman), Giganta (Wonder Woman), Solomon Grundy (Batman), Brainiac (Superman) and Sinestro (Green Lantern).

So who would you put on your Justice League of America lineup? I had an opportunity to do that very thing when I got married a couple of years ago. My groomsmen and I all wore superhero t-shirts underneath our suits. I planned it all out, especially who would wear who's iconic symbols. THAT'S my favorite part of the Justice League. Where the Avengers are cool and a lot of fun and their characters are great; they lack one thing only the JLA can offer. Iconic hero symbols! Superman's S, Batman's Bat, Wonder Woman's double W crest, Flash's lightening bolt, Green Lantern's...uh..green..lantern, things like that. Not every hero has them, but the core members do. My line up was Superman (myself heh), Batman (my best man Tony), the Flash (my little brother Kevin), Shazam (my best friend Jimmy), and Green Lantern (my friend Chris). Superman was always my favorite growing up and it was my wedding, so that was a given. My best man (and cousin), Tony Turco, was a perfect fit to be wearing the bat symbol (Superman and Batman have always been depicted as great friends despite their differences. Tony and I have been best buds since birth); my little brother has the reddish blond hair that Barry Allen has and used to pride himself on how fast he ran when he was younger, and would often help the old lady around the corner shovel out her driveway in the Winter. Something I imagine Barry Allen doing, so that was an easy pick; Jimmy as Shazam was a fun one because in the comics (specifically the Kingdom Come story) Superman fights Shazam and Shazam is the only hero capable of defeating Superman on his own. Jimmy is the kind of friend that I would trust with the knowledge and ability to defeat me. IF it was ever necessary. I'd say that's a pretty good compliment (what do you think Jim?). And my friend Chris as Green Lantern was an easy choice too. He's a good guy who has shown extraordinary willpower in his lifetime. That's what GL's powers are based on. The only one missing from my lineup was Wonder Woman, but that's because I was marrying her and she wanted the boys to have their picture together. I really am an incredibly lucky man.

So who would you pick for your Justice League of America lineup? Would you keep the core members or add on your own? The movie, due out next year, seems to be leaning towards 7 members (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman), so that's a good amount.

Let me know who you would want on your team by commenting on my Facebook page, commenting here, or tweeting me @SuperNerdyNews. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out Jimmy and my new podcast: The Good Shit, all episodes now available on Soundcloud. Thanks! Have a great day!

ASSHAI-BY-THE-SHADOW - GoT Mondays

Hey, #GoT Mondays?! After last week's post, I got interested with where these prophecies in Game of Thrones came from. Which led me down a rabbit hole of sorts that brought me from the Citadel in Oldtown (where most prophecies are found written in books of the huge library there) all the way to Essos to a city called Asshai-by-the-Shadow.

Everyone familiar with the Game of Thrones series knows that the country where most of the main story lines take place is called Westeros. It extends from the North from the Lands of Always Winter and extends to the tip of Dorne. It is the home of the 7 Kingdoms - The North (Winterfell/Starks), the Riverlands (Riverrun/Tullys), the Stormlands (Storm's End/Baratheons), the Vale (The Eyrie/Arryns), the Iron Islands (Pyke/Greyjoys), the Westerlands (Casterly Rock/Lannisters), the Reach (Highgarden/Tyrells), and Dorne (Sunspear/Martells). Westeros is just one continent though.

The planet does not have an official name and is only referred to as The Known World and consists of Westeros with the Sunset Kingdoms, Essos, and Sothyros.

If you travel East from Westeros, across the Narrow Sea you will find Essos. This is where you can find cities like Braavos, where Arya has been, further East is Meereen, where Dany is. Today, I am going to talk about a place even further East than Meereen called Asshai by the Shadow.

Sounds mysterious right? Well that is exactly what it is. Yep, a huge mystery. And that's it for me I am outta here!

Just kidding. I know what you're thinking though, "what is Asshai? and how do you pronounce it?"

Ashheye is how it's pronounced and it's like the Orient of the world of ice and fire. Located at the southern tip of a peninsula, beneath the Shadowlands. First of all the Shadowlands is a creepy-ass place where there are monsters and demons and all kinds of things that live in the dark. That's why it's called Asshai by the Shadow. Asshai isn't some bright and cheery place that's like a beacon to get through the dark lands. No no, it's ALWAYS gloomy and overcast, all day & night everyday. The buildings are made of this oily and greasy stone that drinks the light rather than reflect it. There are no plants except for inedible ghost grass, and no animals live there. In fact, the animals that are brought there, die not long after arriving. Some say it's because the River Ash is so polluted that animals that are even near it are poisoned.

It's also very scarcely populated, said to have as many people as a market place. There is trade and the city does have a port, but the only things shipped in are fresh food, water, and the occasional animal. Which is in turn traded for treasures of the city; jewels, gold, potions. The gold and jewels is said to be cursed, causing the carrier to go mad with desire of wanting more and more.

But the thing about Asshai that I really want to talk about is who lives there and what the city is closely associated with. Magic. Sorcery actually. There are sorcerers aplenty in Asshai. That's because this is the one place in the whole world that these people are able to study their arts as deep as they want without interference. In the book The World of Ice & Fire the citizens of Asshai are all magic users or slaves and are specifically listed in this order: "Warlocks, wizards, alchemists, moonsingers, Red Priests, black alchemists, necromancers, aeromancers, pyromancers, blood mages, torturers, inquisitors, godwives, night-walkers, shapechangers, (and) worshippers of the Black Goat and the Pale Child and the Lion of Night..." What the hell?! What is a moonsinger? Or a NIGHT-WALKER?! OR WORHSIPPERS OF THE BLACK GOAT AND THE PALE CHILD AND THE LION OF NIGHT!!!!!! This place sounds absolutley terrifying.

The scariest of all of these are Shadowbinders, who use shadows to do their bidding. Sound familiar? A little bit? Yeah, we saw it in season 2 or in book 2: A Clash of Kings, when Melisandre the Red Woman gives birth to a Shadow Creature that kills Renly Baratheon (in the books, she does this twice. To Renly and Ser Cortnay Penrose).

Melisandre was a slave that was sold to a shadowbinder of Asshai, who trained her. She would grow to become a follower of R'hllor and a Red Priestess.

Of all the characters we've met in A Song of Ice and Fire, Melisandre has used magic most often and her origins tie directly to where magic seems to come from. We've only gotten a glimpse of Melisandre's power though, including most famously her glamouring ability. Remember the reveal that she's actually an old woman? Crazyballs. While training as a Red Priest in Asshai, Melisandre came across the prophecy of Azor Ahai, which would lead her to Storm's End and her belief that Stannis Baratheon was Azor Ahai reborn. Oh how wrong she was...

Another Shadowbinder that we've met is Qaithe (pronounced Quayth). If you don't remember her, she is the masked woman that Daenarys meets in season 2 when she makes it through the Red Waste to the city of Qarth; and then again in season 5 when Dany gets a visit from Qaithe just before she goes on a vision quest. Qaithe fits the description of a Shadowbinder a lot more than Melisandre does, but only because Melisandre is more of Red Priest than just a straight up Shadowbinder. She was trained as a Shadowbinder, but was called to follow R'hllor. Qaithe wears a red laqured mask that always makes me think I see "liquored mask" when I read it and also red licorice like twizzlers on her face.

One last thing to mention. It is said that no man travels upriver from Asshai into the Shadowlands, only Shadowbinders. There is a city there though. The city of Stygai. Inside the city contains the Heart of Darkness. No one knows exactly what that is, and even Shadowbinders won't go there. I think it's where all magic comes from.

Asshai is no joke and I hope we get a look at the place in either the show or the books. Though George R.R. Martin has stated that we will only see Asshai though flashbacks if at all.  But since we are nearing the end of the show's run (confirmed that season 8 is the final season) and it's rumored that HBO is interested in doing a Game of Thrones spinoff show or shows. We could see Asshai show up in someone else's story. Maybe Melisandre's origins gets a spinoff story, or more likely, we could get Euron Greyjoy's travels beyond the Sunset Kingdoms. In the books, he claims to have travelled to Asshai and beyond, so that would be a great way to expand the world we've only seen a small piece of.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @SuperNerdyNews. If you like these GoT Monday posts, please share them along with the #GoTMondays. Thanks, have a good one!

SPIDER-MAN VS. THE JOKER - FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS!!!

"OH WHAT A GLORIOUS FEEL-LING, OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DA-AY!" Spider-Man sings loudly as he swings around the corner of a building. "It really is gorgeous out today. Scorching hot, but gorgeous. That reminds me! I hope MJ remembered to DVR Scandal last night, cause I need to get my Shonda on!"

He lets his web swing him up real high, when suddenly he gets a strange feeling in his head. "Ooh, my spider-sense is tingling. I think somethings up at that bank over there. Better check it out." Spidey says to himself and dives towards the ground. At the perfect moment, he shoots a web and swings to the wall just above the entrance to the bank.

Through the wall, Spider-Man can sense what's happening inside.

"There's someone in there calling the shots. He's got people tied up on both sides of the room and they're very scared. Alrighty, time for some of that old fashioned hero stuff!"

With that last thought, Spider-Man leaps out into the air above the street in front of the bank, fires off two web lines on either side of the bank doors, and sends himself hurdling through them. He bursts into the bank and double flips into a landing while singing, "Here I come to save the da--" He stops, noticing that there's a man standing on a table facing him but with his head down. He wears a purple fedora along with a fancy-looking though tattered, long purple tuxedo jacket complete with long tails. He holds a large crowbar, leaning on it like a cane. His shoulders shudder as he starts to giggle maniacally, "HeeHeeHee Hello, Spider-Man, it is truly a joy to meet you HeeHee"

"Who are you now?" asks Spider-Man. "I thought I had enough bad guys to worry about."

"HeeHeeHeeeee Oh, I'm not YOUR bad guy, Spider-Man" the Man says, lifting his head revealing a long white face like a clown with a long chin the jutted out and away from his in a peculiar way; with dark green hair, and blood-red lips that curled into an enormous mischievious smile that seemed to be permanently stuck on his face. "I'm someone elses' bad guy. He doesn't dress as colorfullys as you do, and only comes out at night. Hahahha You, my dear little Spider-darling, can call me...THE JOKER HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA"

"What are you doing here and what do you want with these people?! Also I really hope you're wearing sunscreen, cause you'll burn out there today." says Spider-Man.

"HAHAHAHAHHA Silly Spider, I don't care about these people. I just needed something to get your attention. HAHAHAHA!" Laughs the Joker. Spider-Man looks around at the people tied up. There are 2 groups of people all wear clown masks; one group looks to be tied together on one side of the room, the other is tied to the vault and tied with them was DYNAMITE!

"No wonder my spider sense was telling me how scared these people are." thought Spider-Man. He yells back, "Well you have my attention now, Bozo. I'll take care of this bomb and then take care of you." Spider-Man turns to start helping the people tied up to the vault.

"Did you think this was going to be that easy, Webhead? HAHAHAHAHA" laughs the Joker. "I think you need to take a closer look at the TIMER I attached to that dynamite, along with the little helpers I brought along."

As the Joker says this, Spider-Man's spider-sense starts going off like crazy. He turns around and sees the other group of people he thought were tied up, get to their feet armed with machine guns. They cock their weapons, ready to fight. Spider-Man looks at the people tied to the bomb and finds the timer. He has less than 3 minutes!

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I just wanted to meet you, Spider-Man, and give you a little taste of the games I have in store for you! Have fun, boys, try not kill each other too quickly, I really want that bomb to go off. HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The laughter echoes off of the walls as the Joker makes his escape. Spider-Man turns to face the gunmen, the timer closing in on 2 mintues left.

"You know you guys could make this easier for all of us if you just throw down your guns and go away. Then you won't be all beat up and in jail later." quips Spider-Man and leaps into the air as a hail of gunfire erupt from the men. He lands safely on the wall.

"Or not. Ok, well there's only 7 of you, I can handle that in less than 2 minutes, right?" Spider-Man says to himself. "Let's find out!" He jumps and fires off a wide spray of webbing, blinding the Joker's men to his movements for the moment. Spider-Man lands on the ground and slide tackles two of the goons as they're distracted. He webs their hands and feet together, then quickly fires off two more web lines that attach to two of the henchmen's guns. He jumps into the air spinning his body horizontally like a drill, making the web lines twist the guns out of the hands of the Joker's goons. With lightening quick speed, Spider-Man lands and immediately dives forward, flipping at the last second to deliver strong kicks to the henchmen's chest. The two go flying over the bank counter.

The remaining three goons scramble to get away from Spider-Man while keeping him in their sights. They seperate and move towards the corners of the room. Spider-Man jumps straight up, landing upside down on the ceiling, "Gotta make this quick," he thinks to himself. He jumps from the ceiling, shooting a web line at one goon, and landing near a large table in the middle of the room. At the same exact time, Spider-Man kicks the table at one of the other 2 goons, and swings the webline (now attached to the goon behind him) at the last man in the corner. The table crashes into one man, breaking apart and knocking him out; while the webbed goon collides with the last guy.

Spider-Man stands triumphantly, then remembering the timer leaps to the vault. The bomb seems to be tied to the same restraints on the bank customers. Luckily it's just rope, and Spider-Man quickly cuts away the dynamite. But the timer is still ticking! 15 seconds left! Spider-Man runs out into the street and leaps into the air firing off a webline. He gets to the roof as the timer hits 5 seconds. He attaches a webline to the bomb and swings it around his head, letting go with enough force to throw it out into the open air above the Hudson River. KABOOM!!!!! The bomb detonates harmlessly in the air.

"Sorry to anyone napping in New Jersey!" Yells Spider-Man, "YOWZAS!!!" His spider-sense is going crazy all of the sudden. He runs to the ledge and looks out across the city as a large explosion erupts on the street a few blocks away. Farther down another explosion, then 2 more even farther off. Looking South, Spider-Man watches in horror as 3 more large explosions erupt. He shoots a web and swings off to a large sky scraper to get a better look as he hears 5 more explosions erupt around him from various distances. As Spider-Man reaches the top of the building to see the whole city blanketed in smoke from 12 different places, his cell phone is ringing. He grabs it, barely able to speak because of what he's seeing.

"H-hello?"

"P-PETER! ARE YOU THERE!?"

"Yes, MJ, what is it? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but Peter..."

"What? What happened?!?!?!"

"All of the explosions...Oh, Peter...it's May...I'm so sorry...your Aunt May is gone."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Sorry, come back next week to see what else the Joker has in store for Spider-Man. Will it be too much for the wallcrawler? Or will he do the old hero thing and save the day? Well you'll just have to wait and see...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Tale of the Tape - Setup for FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS

I'm trying something a little different this week. Today I'm laying out the participants of tomorrow's #FRIDAYNIGHTFIGHTS with character break downs, and tomorrow will be a full short story about the outcome of their meeting(s).  This week is two unlikely combatants:

SPIDER-MAN vs. THE JOKER!!!

You might be thinking, "Dude, Joker doesn't stand a chance one on one against Spidey." To that I say, "No shit." The Joker is not much of a fighter, and has no super powers, but my favorite part about writing these posts is by showcasing the extreme strength of each character. And the Joker's biggest strength is his pyschological games he plays with Batman. So my question is, what would happen if the Joker came to New York City and got to just do his thing against a hero that was unfamiliar with his tactics?

CHARACTER BREAKDOWN:

SPIDER-MAN - Peter Parker was only 15 years old when he was bitten by a radioactive spider and was given super powers. The bite gave him the strength, speed, and agility comparable to a spider along with a "spider-sense" that alerts him to whenever there is danger. The "spider-sense" is an incredibly powerful asset to Peter. It can be very specific about the danger he's in at a certain time. For example, Spidey could arrive on scene with his spidey sense tingling, and as he looks around for the trouble, the sense could go off stronger as, say someone shoots a gun at him. The sense (alerting him at just the right moment) combined with his speed and agility makes Spider-Man very difficult enemy.

Then you add the strength of Spider-Man, which believe it or not, is often overlooked. Spidey fights a lot of super villains and therefore is often fighting with what appears to be all of his might, but he's actually only using about 1/2 to 3/4 of his full power. Spider-Man knows that his punches, even at half power, could kill a human being; and even though he's fighting super villains, he doesn't want to accidentally kill anyone and so therefore he must rely on ALL of his abilities to win the day. This is one of the reasons Spider-Man is in my top 3 favorite super heroes of all time.

Spider-Man is also incredibly smart. He designed and created his own webshooters and webbing and has faced most of Marvel Comics' worst villains and has always come out the victor.

THE JOKER
There's not much to talk about for Joker's origins. What I was led to believe was that, before becoming the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker was a failing stand-up comedian who was down on his luck. One day he was approached by some gangsters with an offer to act as The Red Hood (a faceless criminal that popped up occasionally in the early years of Batman's crime fighting career). The Joker was married at the time, and they were getting desperate to make some money. The story goes that the Joker had one REALLY bad day, and at the end of it, he found himself floating in a vat of chemicals after a confrontation with Batman (read THE KILLING JOKE by Allen Moore for the full story).

The Joker would go on to become one of the most dangerous and well known super villains in comic book history. In the comics today, it's been revealed that there were actually 3 different Jokers during Batman's career. I love this idea, because looking back through those comics, the Joker really did go through 3 very different personalities (Classic long faced Joker was more into stealing and pranks, Gangster/Crazy Joker was a mass murderer that we're probably most familiar with, and the INSANE/removed his own face Joker that is most recent version of the character).

You could also look at the movies to support this as well. Think of Cesar Romano in the Adam West Batman show from 1966, a clown who was more into robberies and stealing stuff than anything else. Then came Jack Nicholson in Tim Burton's 1989 BATMAN movie as the gangster version of the Joker. He was a bit darker and actually killed people while also coming up with grand elaborate plans. But it was Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan's 2nd Batman movie, THE DARK KNIGHT, that gave us the version of the character that modern comic fans were most familiar with. The wild and crazy Joker, who's schemes were more about messing with people's minds and causing chaos then they were to make money. The brilliant part about this version is that those schemes also had an outcome beneficial to the Joker and his crew that were not exactly what Batman and the police expected. Like when Joker lit the giant pile of gangster money on fire rather than keeping it for himself.

As I said, he's not much of a fighter, but his evil plans are better than almost anyone else. Joker wouldn't jump headfirst into a fight with Spidey, but would put him through some challenging situations in order to tire out Spider-Man and weaken him enough to be able to deliver a killing blow.

OVERVIEW:

So what would happen if these 2 met face to face? Well, this fight wouldn't be a one and done, that's why I'm changing the format around this week. The Joker's approach would be to come up with a plan and set it in motion, with a final confrontation coming only after Spider-Man was put through the ringer. The Joker would reveal himself in one way, but distract Spider-Man away from his main goal of stopping the Joker with other more immediate danger situations.

Spider-Man would most likely underestimate the Joker and his schemes. But as he finds himself moving further away from actually stopping the Mad Clown, he would figure out a way to get at him. If it comes down to a physical confrontation, the Joker doesn't stand a chance.

Come back tomorrow to see what happens when the Joker comes to New York City and takes a shot at our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!

The Supergirl TV Show

If you haven't heard already, Supergirl has moved from CBS to CW. I missed the first season when it originally aired, and have now started watching the reruns. It's not bad, I have to say, it's not bad at all. And now that the show is on the same network as The Flash and Arrow, Supergirl is now officially part of their universe along with the characters from LEGENDS OF TOMORROW. That's really cool. DC continues to move towards a Justice Society of America (JSA) show and, hopefully, a CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS or a INFINITE CRISIS story situation maybe even involving the movie universe!

So I'm two episodes into the first season and I have some thoughts. Nothing really bad to say, just like the other shows that share this universe, there's a certain amount of cheesiness to it. I think there's just the right amount though, much like the Flash show has just enough to keep it fun without any eye rolling moments.

Here's the thing I kept thinking though, try to follow me here, I think Supergirl is a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) character in a DC/WB Studios television show. What I mean is, her story and character are sticking to easy comic book troupes that are resemble something in a Marvel comic book rather than a DC comic book and could easily be a MCU character by switching around a few things.

Examples:

She's a mild mannered assistant to an editor of a major metropolitan newspaper. Yes, this is also kind of how Clark Kent got going in classic Superman comics, but stay with me. Because of her age and this air of innocence around her, the story reminds me more of early Spider-Man comics than it does Supergirl or Superman comics. I'm also only 2 episodes in.

Cat Grant (played by Calista Flockhart) is J. Jonah Jameson. JJ is the editor of the Daily Bugle, the newspaper Peter Parker works for. Peter is a photographer who has to listen to JJ demand negative headlines to condemn Spider-Man, despite his obvious heroics. In episode 2 (I know, it's only 2 episodes, but these are just my thoughts so far) Cat Grant starts calling for negative headlines about Supergirl which sounded a lot like my favorite person with a Hitler mustache.

Mr. J. Jonah Jameson, if you're nasty

Then there's that secret military squad that her sister is a member of that looks and sounds a lot like Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Last and least is her alter ego's name. Kara Danvers. Reminds me too much of Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel (formally Ms. Marvel) in the Marvel Comics Universe and soon to be played by Brie Larson in an MCU movie. This one is last and least because Danvers has been Supergirl's secret identity name in the comics before and she debuted in 1958; while Carol Danvers, as Ms. Marvel, made her debut 10 years later in 1968. So technically Supergirl had first dibs, but there's room for plenty of arguement.But I digress.

The show is fun and I'm enjoying it so far. I heard it gets better as it goes too, and introduces a lot of other DC comic characters. I will have no problem hanging on to check them out, but I'm mostly into season 1 in order to get to THIS in season 2:

Yep, SUPERMAN is officially a part of the DC TV universe!

So there are some really cool things to look forward to with this show, I am looking forward to it.

That's it for today. If you haven't already, please like my Facebook page and/or follow me on Twitter. It makes me think people are interested, so help a guy out by liking and sharing my posts. Thanks a lot! Got an awesome Friday Night Fights coming up this week so stay tuned!

Part 2 - RHAEGAR & LYANNA

Welcome to part 2! Yesterday I talked about the life of Rhaegar Targaryan. Today we're going to discuss the details of his life that had a major impact on the future of Westeros. Let's start with the people's perception of Rhaegar.

Everything that I have found during my research, points to Rhaegar being a good man with a messed up crazy dad in Aerys II aka The Mad King. He behaved honorably throughout his life, made some great friends that were loyal to him even after his death, and seemed to honestly care for his wife and children.

But there is one side of Rhaegar that isn't talked about too much. He was often described as a quiet guy, contemplative keeping his thoughts to himself mostly. Well, as it turns out, a lot of his thoughts were focused on his own ties to The Prince That Was Promised (PtwP) prophecy.

pic is of Daenarys, I know, but she's really the PtwP, keep reading

During his younger years, Rhaegar discovered this prophecy and put the clues together himself. He became so convinced that he was whom the prophecy spoke of that he dropped everything he was doing to start training to be a warrior. These are the clues that led him to that decision:

1. The birth of a Prince. At the time, Rhaegar took this literally, we later found out that Old Valyrian is a gender-neutral language, so 'PRINCE" could mean male or female. Master Aemon's last words were about how they were all wrong about the prophecy and that it wasn't a son they were looking for, but a daughter.

2. The prince is of the blood of the dragon. Meaning that he or she is born a Targaryan. The Maesters further concluded that the PtwP would be a descendant of Aerys II, so as Aerys' first born son (and only child at the time) it was natural for him to think it might be himself.

3. Born amidst salt and smoke. - Rhaegar's birth at Summerhall was during a great fire that burned down the whole castle killing many people. The salt would be from the tears people shed for their lost family and friends.

4. Born under a bleeding star. - A red comet appeared the day Rhaegar was born.

5. Dragons shall be released from stone. - I don't know what he thought this meant for him, but it could be translated in a number of ways. Maybe he believed that this just meant the return of dragons, which was something that was talked about for many years before Rhaegar was even born. There are also a butt load of stone dragons at Dragonstone, so he might of thought of those stone dragons literally coming to life.

6. The "dark eye" falls upon the prince. This just means that a bunch of people of some power or authority would be against the PtwP. At the time, Rhaegar was a boy, but both his father would prove to be a problem for him, as well as the armies of Baratheons, Starks, Arryns, and Tullys. I'd say that's a lot of dark eyes looking at him.

As he grew older and more wise, he realized the prophecy might not be about him specifically, but his children. When his wife Elia gave birth to their second child Aegon, and Rhaegar held him for the first time, he was asked, "Will you write a song for him?" He replied, "There is already a song for him. He is the Prince that was promised. His is the song of ice and fire." Daenarys sees this happen in one of her visions when she is in the House of the Undying (A Clash of Kings/Season 2), and Rhaegar's eyes seem to meet hers as he says, "the dragon has three heads. There must be one more."

My point here is, that Rhaegar was really into this prophecy. It is quite possible that he was obsessed with it and maybe even getting crazy about it. After his son Aegon is born, his wife Elia is unable to have anymore children due to the complications of the birth. It's possible Rhaegar might have snapped over this, remembered Lyanna Stark from the tournament of Harrenhall and decided to just go for it, no matter what the cost; because he truly believed in the prophecy, so his actions would be worth it in the long run, if the prophecy was true.

So...was Robert Baratheon right? Was Rhaegar as mad as his father? Did he kidnap and rape Lyanna like many in Westeros were led to believe?

I don't think so and I'll tell you why.

As quiet and contemplative as Rhaegar was, there were far too many people that spoke quite highly of him. Even Ned Stark, who had the most reason to hate this guy, only spoke honorably of Rhaegar and even seemed to admire him a bit. Why would he do that? Well, we now know Ned's promise that he made to Lyanna on her death bed, so it's VERY possible Ned kept another secret about Rhaegar and Lyanna. Ned and Lyanna were very close and it's safe to assume that they shared secrets with each other more than that one time. Plus, we all know Ned to be nothing but honorable (it's what killed him for crying out loud!), so of course he would want to keep Lyanna's affair with a man that was not her betrothed a secret. If not for her honor but for the entire Stark family.

Let's take a closer look at Lyanna now.

Lyanna Stark is a terrific character. She's the third born Stark, and only girl. She was often described as a tom boy growing up, with a bit of a wild streak. Ned would often say how much Arya reminded him of Lyanna, not only in looks but in personality. Lyanna was a highly skilled rider, and it was one of her favorite things to do. But she also knew how to fight. It's not uncommon for Northern women to know how to fight, but she was the daughter of the Lord of Winterfell; so most looked to her to be a "lady" much like Sansa was and wanted to be when we first met her.

Lyanna was the kind of girl that, much like Arya, was more interested in swordplay and dueling with her brothers instead of learning how to sew or whatever else the women of Westeros were expected to know. It's mentioned several times just how good of a rider she is. There's also mention of a incident with one of her brothers in the Godswood of Winterfell, where they had a mock duel and she beat him by slashing his leg and pushing him into one of the hot springs. She helped him out, because she was a good sister, but also to keep him from ratting her out to her father. My point is that Lyanna was in constant rebellion of the life she was meant to lead. She still honored tradition of the realm and her family, but she didn't do it quietly.

Then came the tournament of Harrenhall and the shenanigans that happened there. I talked about it briefly in part 1, but I only mentioned that Rhaegar won the tournament and named Lyanna the Queen of Love & Beauty and what happened because of that. So why did Rhaegar do that? Did he just see her in the crowd and decide to insult his own wife (who was also there) in front of his father the King? I think they met earlier than that. Where and how you ask? Well for that explanation then I have to talk about something else that happened at the tournament: The Mysterious Knight of the Laughing Tree.

Here's how the story goes. A young Howland Reed, Lord of Greywater Watch (but before he was the lord) came to Harrenhall for the tournament and was attacked and beaten up by three squires. During the fight, Lyanna Stark appeared and rescued Howland Reed by chasing them off with a tourney sword and saying, "He is one of my father's men!" Meaning that the Reeds were bannermen to House Stark. Lyanna tended to Reed's wounds and insisted on him joining them for that evening's feast.

At the feast, Lyanna introduced Howland to her brothers Brandon, Eddard, and Benjen and pointed out the squires that attacked him. The boys offered Howland a sword and a horse to get his revenge, but he refused because Reed was not a very skilled rider nor swordsmen and didn't believe he could actually win.

The next day (tournament day 2) a mystery knight appeared. He was described as being "short of stature", with "mismatched armor, bits and pieces that appeared ill-fitting...",and  "carried a shield blazoned with the image of a 'white weirwood with a red laughing face'".

The knight challenged and defeated the knight's of the 3 squires that attacked Howland Reed the day before, winning custody over their horses and armor. Afterward, when the knights came to ransom for their stuff back, the mystery knight declared his terms in a "booming voice" through his helm that the knights "ought to teach their rude squires honor." Which they did, harshly.

King Aerys, in his paranoia, believed the mystery knight to be an enemy of his and so ordered his son Rhaegar to find out the identity of the knight. By morning of the next day the Knight of the Laughing Tree was gone.

So who was it? Clues point to several people including Howland Reed, Brandon Stark, Ned Stark, Benjen Stark, and Lyanna Stark. And I'm guessing that after you read that story then you're thinking what I'm thinking. "Dude, it's totally Lyanna!"

I was going to break down the clues, but we don't need to. It's pretty clear, but I will add this: George RR Martin LOVES to write strong female characters, especially characters that don't appear strong at first but their true strength of character emerges in the face of adversity. Biggest example is Daenarys Targaryan obviously, but there's also Sansa and Arya, as well as Lyanna Mormont, Maege Mormont, Asha (or Yara in the show) Greyjoy, and even Cersei. So of course Lyanna fits the profile of this mystery knight who showed up to kick ass and prove a point. The point she proved was mostly to herself; that she could actually hold her own against knighted men.

So, if we are to believe that Lyanna was the mystery Knight of the Laughing Tree, then it's also possible that Rhaegar was able to figure out her identity and even confronted her about it. I think Rhaegar was so impressed with her that he fell for her right then and there. Lyanna, on the other hand, found herself face to face with fucking Prince Charming! She sees him for the first time the night before, and hears him play his harp. The story mentions that she openly weeps as she listens to him play. While her brothers and the men surrounding her might not be surprised to see another woman weep over Rhaegar, I (as a reader), was a bit surprised.

Here was a woman who tried very hard to be just like her brothers, who wanted to be looked at as an equal to them in every way. So yes, I was surprised to read that she would cry openly in public like this. I believe that this is because Rhaegar actually made her feel like a woman. He made her feel things that she didn't before. Lyanna was already betrothed to Robert Baratheon at this point, but that didn't mean she felt for Robert what she felt for Rhaegar. At one point in their lives Ned is talking up Robert to Lyanna, because they were such good friends and Ned wanted his sister (whom he loved so so much) to be happy about her future husband. Lyanna replied simply, "Love is a wonderful thing, Ned. But love cannot change a man." Meaning, she knew that no matter how much Robert may love her, it would never change who he was. And Robert could be a real asshole.

I believe that when Lyanna and Rhaegar met face to face for the first time, sparks flew and explosions happened in their downstairs parts. Rhaegar was moved by Lyanna's strength, beauty, personality, feroicity; and Lyanna was struck by Rhaegar's kind spirit, stunning good looks, and superior harp playing skills. Not to mention he was beating the shit out of every knight he faced in the tournament AND was a prince!

So it is quite possible, in fact, it's PROBABLE that Rhaegar didn't steal Lyanna away at all, but kept in touch with her secretly and they BOTH agreed to run away together. Where did they go? Well, they probably travelled to somewhere quiet, but close to the Riverlands (but also probably beyond the Riverlands, like the Stormlands maybe) someplace that Rhaegar loved. I'm guessing they were married near Summerhall. The Targaryans were known for taking multiple wives, so it's not crazy to think that this happened. Besides, knowing how strongly Rhaegar believed in the PtwP prophecy, he would probably want a legitimate child born to him. Rhaegar was just a little too quick to name his first son, Aegon, the song of ice and fire. It's also possible that Rhaegar made the connection that his son with Lyanna was actually the song of ice and fire, but we'll most likely never know because he and Lyanna die before actually meeting their son Jon.

So to conclude my thoughts, Rhaegar seemed to be pretty close to hitting the nail on the head as far as the PtwP prophecy goes. He was wrong about himself being the Prince, or his son Aegon, and he never met Dany or heard of what happened with her. But he and the maesters were right about the PtwP being a descendant of King Aerys II. I still think the PtwP and the reborn Azor Ahai are two different people and those prophescies refer to Daenarys (the PtwP) and Jon (Azor Ahai) seperatley. But again, it could all just be coinicidence too. You always have to remember GRRM's own words, "Don't put too much stock in prophecy. Prophecies are words, and words are wind."

Hot damn, I really do love this shit! Hahaha! I love George RR Martin's writing style so much! I love the redemption theme that runs through these books constantly. I love the whole idea that people who are looked at as "low born" or as "bastards" are actually the strongest of them all.

So that's it for today. This was a really fun post for me. I hope #GoTMondays are filling the void left after season 6 ended as much for you as they are for me. I think in a few weeks that I will start watching the series from the beginning again, like I do every year. This time I'll blog about the episodes as I go though. So stay tuned for that! I'll be back tomorrow with more super hero and comic book related stuff and I'm going to see an advanced screening of Suicide Squad on Thursday, so I'll have something about those guys either tomorrow or Thursday. Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!

Rhaegar Targaryan - The coolest dude in Westeros

Happy Monday everybody! So it's been a few weeks since season 6 of Game of Thrones ended. By now we've had enough time to process everything that's happened, and that includes the mention of some important characters. Specifically two important characters. Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryan. We met Lyanna early on in the season when Bran was learning from the 3 Eyed Raven; and we learned of Jon Snow's true parentage at the end of the season when it was revealed that Lyanna and Rhaegar were his real parents. During those short scenes we learned a few things about Lyanna, and with help from the books we've learned even more.

But how much do we know about Rhaegar? Well, today I'm going to talk about EVVVVVERRRRRRYYYYYTHING that has to do with the Young Dragon. There's a lot to discuss, so this will most likely be in 2 parts to give us both a break, but I assure you it's all really good shit! So let's go!

Rhaegar was born in 259 AC (Westerosi timeline) outside a castle named Summerhall (located in the Stormlands near Griffin's Roost and Storm's End; where the Baratheons are from). King Aegon V had thrown a festival to celebrate the birth of his first grandson, by his own son Aerys II (the future Mad King) and Rhaella Targaryan. The day of Rhaegar's birth, a great fire broke out and burned down the castle.

Rhaegar is said to have been born with silver hair and purple eyes, and grew to be a handsome man. He's described as able, determined, dutiful, deliberate, and single minded, but also that he had a sadness about him all the time. Like he had been wounded deeply in a past life. It has also been said that Rhaegar was the kind of guy that was great at whatever he did. As a child, Rhaegar was an avid reader, devouring any book he could get his hands on. At 8 years of age, he traveled with his father, the King, from King's Landing to Lannisport after the death of Tytos Lannister (the Hand of the King). King Aerys would rule the 7 kingdoms from Lannisport for a year. During this time the Maesters of Lannisport were in awe of Rhaegar's intelligence.

While reading, Prince Rhaegar came upon the prophecy of "The Prince That Is Promised" that talks about the rebirth of Azor Ahai or the Last Hero (see my post about this prophecy!) Rhaegar becomes convinced that the prophecy is about him or his offspring. When King Aerys and Prince Rhaegar return from Lannisport, Rhaegar seeks out King's Landing Master at Arms, Ser Willem Darry and tells him, "I will require a sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior." And what a warrior he became!

As he grew, he met two men who would become his total bffs. Ser Arthur Dayne (the Sword of the Morning, known to be the greatest swordsmen in Westeros) and Jon Connington, Lord of Gryffin's Roost. Connington kind of has a bit of a man-crush on Rhaegar, but a so do a lot of people. Ser Jon Connington is also a name book readers will remember, as his devotion to Rhaegar leads him on quite a path.

Rhaegar was also a talented musician, who loved to play his harp and brought it with him wherever he went. He would play so beautifully that women everywhere would weep. Rhaegar had this knack for writing beautiful but incredibly sad songs.

So, this fuckin guy, not only was he good looking, really smart, a fierce warrior, AND A PRINCE. He was also a brooding musician! So like the ultimate cool guy, chicks everywhere fucking LOVED this dude. Sheesh, no wonder Robert Baratheon hated him. The thing is though, he didn't seem to create any jealous or malicious feelings from anyone who met him. Obvisouly that would change later, but for the most part, Rhaegar was looked at as really great guy.

When Rhaegar was 19, his parents (after years of trouble) finally had another son. Viserys, aka the Last Dragon aka the Begger King, the last male Targaryan who was crowned with molten gold by Khal Drogo way back in book 1/season 1. In honor of Viserys' birth, Tywin Lannister (the new Hand of the King) held a tournament at Lannisport. There he attempted to betroth his daughter Cersei to Rhaegar, but King Aerys refused. Later, Cersei and her uncle Kevyn Lannister would say that Robert's Rebellion would never had happened if Aerys had agreed to the betrothal.

As for the actual tournament at Lannisport, Rhaegar entered and was, by far, the most popular participant. His father, King Aerys, openly cheered for him along with the rest of the crowd. He would ultimately lose to his good friend Arthur Dayne (he'd later return the beating to Ser Arthur at a future tourney, breaking 12 lances on Dayne). Despite losing, Rhaegar was offered two young men to squire for him. After they grew up, Rhaegar knighted them, and they would remain close for their remaing years. This shows how Rhaegar inspires loyalty. He was beloved by the common folk, who would soon look to him as their future king.

At another tournament, this time held in Duskendale (located in the Crownlands not far from King's Landing), the paranoia and madness of King Aerys began to show to the public. Aerys would begin to think Rhaegar was plotting against him. The Mad King didn't even trust Rhaegar to find his own bride, and showed Rhaegar how little Aerys trusted him by sending Steffon Baratheon to Essos to find a bride for him. Steffon would fail, but would also perish at sea on his return trip, but Aerys' paranoia was so strong that he believed Rhaegar had sabotaged his ship; this led to an estrangement between father and son.

In 279 AC, Rhaegar married Elia Martell of Dorne. In the books, characters say that Rhaegar loved his wife and was "quite fond of her". They were married at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, but King Aerys refused to attend in fear of an attempt on his life. Prince Viserys was also restricted from attending. Soon after they were married, Rhaegar and Elia moved to Dragonstone, probably to put some space between himself and his crazy dad. However, this move would sprout rumors that Rhaegar was plotting to seize the Iron Throne for himself.

A few years later, Elia gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Rhaenys. Elia was bedridden for a year after, so while she healed Rhaegar took the new baby to court. His mother, Queen Rhaella embraced the baby, overjoyed to hold her first grandchild; while King Aerys refused to touch her, saying that the baby, "smelled Dornish". Openly insulting his son's first born child, further deepening the tension between Rhaegar and Aerys. And so the more loved and respected by the people Rhaegar got, the crazier Aerys became!

In 281 AC, came the great Tournament of Harrenhall. Holy shit are there a lot of things to talk about here! So much that I'm going to come back to it later! The tourney was hosted by Lord Walter Whent, whom offered HUGE prizes for the winner to make particiapation as appealing and as grand as possible. All the great houses of Westeros, along with the smaller ones, attended. Some people speculate that Lord Whent couldn't afford any of the prizes he offered, and was actually secretly funded by Rhaegar. Possibly done to entice all the great lords to attend so then he could call a secret council and discuss changes to the 7 Kingdoms.

However, despite his paranoia of assassination attempts, Aerys attended the tournament. Figuring that no one could conspire against him, if he was there and his people were all around.

The tournament lasted for seven days, over those days Rhaegar would defeat every knight he faced, including four King's Guards. One of which was Barristen Selmy, who was known as the best lance in Westeros, and Rhaegar UNHORSED HIM to win the tournament! This was much different than the tournament at Lannisport, when everyone including his father, were cheering for him. This time, Aerys did not cheer, he was terrified of what he was seeing. Varys, Aerys' Master of Whispers, had told Aerys that Rhaegar competed to in order to gain favor from the common people. These fears grew even more when Rhaegar passed over his wife Elia, and named Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love & Beauty and placed a crown made of Blue Winter Roses in her lap with the tip of his lance. This caused a bit of an uproar amongst the Stark men, with Brandon needing to be held back by Ned and Benjen all because they felt dishonored. Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon already, who was also there. He just laughed and said something about how Rhaegar had gotten it right, but everyone there said they could see the hate bubbling behind his eyes.

Not long after the tournament of Harrenhall, Rhaegar and Elia had their second child, a son Rhaegar named Aegon. Just like the birth of her last child, Elia had problems and almost died. Because of this, Elia was unable to have any more children. The night Aegon was born, a red comet appeared in the sky, further convincing Rhaegar that his child was the Prince That Was Promised.

At this point, it's believed that Rhaegar has told Elia about the prophecy, saying "the dragon has 3 heads". It is possible that Rhaegar believed he needed one more child to complete the prophecy. He decided to take some of his friends and journey into the Riverlands (where the Twins and Riverrun are). Here is where the tales of him kidnapping Lyanna Stark start. No one knows what actually happened here, but I think she met him outside Harrenhall and they rode off together (I'll get more into this later). These events would lead to Robert's Rebellion and the fall of the Targaryan Dynasty.

Ned's father Rickard and  oldest brother Brandon Stark along with a handful of men rode to King's Landing to demand Rhaegar return Lyanna to them. Aerys refused and pronounced the traitors to the crown and sentenced them to death. He then burned them all alive.

The news hit the North and the civil war began. Led by Robert Baratheon, the Starks, Tullys, and Arryns along with all of their bannermen, rode south to war. Rhaegar returned to King's Landing and pleaded with his father to ask Tywin Lannister for help. Fearing Tywin, Aerys refused. Rhaegar then built an army of Targaryan men and the houses of Dorne, and began marching North.

Before he left, Rhaegar was approached by a young Jamie Lannister, still new to the King's Guard. Jamie pleaded with Rhaegar to keep a different King's Guard at the Red Keep to protect the King, and to take Jamie with him. Rhaegar refused saying, "My royal sire fears your father more than he does Robert. I dare not take that crutch from him at this hour."

The Robert and Rhaegar's forces met at the Trident (in the Riverlands) where the two would come face to face. Robert wore an antlered helm, a shield bearing the Baratheon Stag sigil, and carried his mighty warhammer, while Rhaegar wore black armor with the Targaryan 3 headed dragon sigil blazoned on his chest in red rubies.

The battle was fierce, but in the end Robert's hammer struck a tremendous blow, scattering the rubies from Rhaegar's armor and mortally wounding the prince. Rhaegar died with a woman's name on his lips. I believe that name was "Lyanna". After his death, and because of the scattered rubies, the spot where Rhaegar fell came to be known as Ruby Ford.

When word of Rhaegar's death reached Aerys, he sent his wife (pregnant with Daenarys) to Dragonstone. He also decided to Elia and her children, Rhaenys and Aegon, in King's Landing in order to keep the allegiance with Dorne. A decision that leads directly to their deaths, as the forces of Tywin Lannister arrive at the gates of King's Landing. We all know this part right? Jamie convinces Aerys to open the gates, yadda yadda yadda, the king is dead and King's Landing is sacked. Tywin orders the deaths of Elia and her children by Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch. Their bodies are then presented at the feet of the new King Robert in an offer of fealty. Robert didn't see dead children, only dragonspawn.

PHEW! That's a lot huh? Cool shit though right? So, that's only the first part. There's a whole mess of stuff about Lyanna Stark and the tournament of Harrenhall I want to talk about, but I'm going to take a break and post that stuff seperately. Until then, here are a couple of things to consider:

Events in the books say that baby Aegon survived. It's possible that Varys bought a child from a man in Flea Bottom (the poor section of King's Landing) who's mother died in child birth, for a bottle of Arbor Gold. The story goes that the man already had 4 children, but had never had Arbor Gold so the trade worked out for him. Anyway, Varys made the switch before the sacking of the capital and the child went on to be raised in secret. This could be true, in the books there's a whole story line following this, but there's another prophecy suggesting that this Aegon is the "mummer's dragon", meaning he's a false Targaryan.

Also consider this: People think Rhaegar took Lyanna for various reasons. Cersei thinks it was because he didn't actually love Elia. Robert thought that Rhaegar was mad like his father and kidnapped and raped Lyanna dozens of times. That seems to be the general consensus amoungst the current citizens of Westeros. But if you believe Daenarys (and me!) then you believe Rhaegar and Lyanna were in love and ran off to be together. I will get more into THAT in part 2! Stay tuned!