AstroMovie Review: The Broken Promises of Game of Thrones

Welcome to another LINCOS AstroMovie review. [ Read or Watch the video here on Youtube.]

In this post we’ll be examining the popular HBO series Game of Thrones. I have to confess that I’m a HUGE Game of Thrones nerd. I’ve read all the books and have watched the series more times than you can shake a Valyrian steel sword at. Several years ago, while the show was still airing, I did a presentation on GoT for the astrological organization in my state. In it, I examined George R.R. Martin’s chart as the basis for many of the themes reflected in the series. However, that presentation may be a bit advanced for some of you who don’t yet read charts. So I wanted to revisit those themes in a more digestible and updated format.

The series is, thematically, very rich and is 8 seasons long. So rather than trying to cover everything in a super long video, I’ll be breaking it up into smaller videos covering each theme separately. Today, I want to tackle the theme of broken promises. Beware, what follows is chock full of spoilers for all 8 seasons of the HBO series.

The Astrology

Let’s start with the astrology before we get into the plot and characters. If you had to pick a planet that is in charge of making promises, pledges or oaths, which planet would that be? The answer is not obvious, but it’s very much significant in the historical beginnings of astrology. This would be the Sun. Let me explain why…

When birth astrology was ramping up in antiquity, another important thing was also happening: the cult of solar worship. All over the Near East and Egypt, solar deities were trending as some of the most popular deities of the Hellenistic age. In Greece, there were two sun gods: Helios and Apollo; in Rome, the cult of Sol Invictus challenged Christianity, which started arguably also as a solar cult ; in Persia, Mithras was revered; in Egypt, Ra and Serapis were adored; in Mesopotamia, Shamash grew in stature, and in Syria, Elagabalus was all the rage. Solar deities were particularly significant, because they symbolized universal power, cosmic order, and divine authority, resonating with the values of the Hellenistic rulers that governed the region.

But more importantly to us, each of these deities was invoked in various oath-taking practices. Whether on behalf of promised allegiances, or to reinforce contractual agreements, or in the context of religious oaths, solar deities were favored because their “all-seeing” nature made them ideal witnesses to truth and justice. The Sun had an all-seeing nature because he travels and presides over the four corners of the entire world, throughout the course of the year. The observation that the Sun travels the earth annually goes back even to the Neolithic period, as it is codified into megalithic structures around the globe. For this reason, the Sun was also seen as patron deity of travelers. But I think an even more obvious reason for why the Sun was a symbol of promises and oaths kept, is because he always rises. Barring some astronomical catastrophe to the Earth itself, man can always count on the Sun to rise over the horizon, each morning. So the Sun represents loyalty and trustworthiness, amongst other things, such as joy, freedom, and the energy and will to live. 

In today’s astrology, the Sun is rarely an acknowledged symbol of the promises, oaths, and vows we make to ourselves and to others. Unfortunately, he’s usually just a carrier for our Sun-Sign. But the Sun signifies our free will, our choices, selections and the decisions we make in life. In fact, selection is the principle that the late astrology translator, Robert Schmidt, most associated with the Sun. As traveler, he selects which routes we must take as individuals on life’s personal journey. Every decision we make is a choice to travel one path, and not another.

The best way to understand Saturn, is as the opposite of choice, which is necessity. Necessity is the principle that Robert Schmidt associated with Saturn, because it represents the decisions that must be made when few, if any, good options are available. There is a restriction of possibilities, because there is a restriction of light with Saturn. It’s, after all, the planet with the faintest light to be seen with the naked eye, because of its distance from the Sun. (Incidentally, here is an earlier presentation on this topic.) It’s because of its dimmed light that the Babylonians called Saturn the anti-Sun, or the Sun of the Night. In life, we see Saturn manifesting as work, discipline, duty, obligations and restrictions: none of the things we choose in life, but which we must endure out of necessity. On the more positive side, Saturn also signifies the long-term commitments, accomplishments, and successes that we can achieve over time through these self-imposed restrictions and obligations.

The Sun-Saturn Co-presence

Martin’s Chart

George Martin’s chart has the Sun and Saturn together in the sign of Virgo. It is called a co-presence when they’re in the same sign. It doesn’t matter that they’re far apart by degree; as long as they are in the same sign, they act together as one. When Saturn and the Sun are together, the awareness of duty and responsibility is brought together with the power of the self to choose. So you get the dutybound identity: a person who’s very aware that, with more power and choice, comes more responsibility. You might even get a workaholic type of identity or, in extreme cases, a martyr. Life can become Stark – and yes, that is a deliberate choice of that word. Challenging circumstances can play a role, forcing us into making promises or commitments that we don’t want to make. But not seeing any better options in the matter, we are obligated to make a decision anyway.

Because both planets can signify father figures, when a person is young, this combination can be embodied by the father, or the male parental figure, in the person’s life, who may be extremely demanding, distant or otherwise cold and neglectful. It’s a combination that can lead a child to develop a desire for external validation, which can express as a tendency to commit to large endeavors, projects or ambitions. So it’s a great combination for external achievement. But Saturn always requires effort and determination. And, because people are human, another tendency of this combination is for the native to be harder on himself than he needs to be, sometimes running into difficulties trying to uphold exaggerated commitments or ambitions. Time can become an issue, since Saturn is the Greek deity Chronos, the god of time.

In Virgo, which is a mutable sign, there are often other distractions or interruptions that interfere with one’s ability to deliver on Saturn’s ambitious commitments. I’m not going to get into too many details about George’s life because I talked about it at length in the Game of Thrones presentation mentioned above. But I’ll just summarize that the placement of these two planets in his chart have a large impact on his work and family life. The most obvious example in his work life – which is still a topic of uncomfortable commentary -- is his, as yet, undelivered promise to finish the enormous book series that we’re talking about: namely, A Song of Ice and Fire. It’s certainly been a sprawling, massive project, requiring commitment, work and discipline that he agreed to. And I’m not one of these people who feels he owes the fans anything. However, to the extent that Martin promised himself, AND his publishers, to write the full story, then his inability to deliver would certainly constitute an example of the tension signified by this planetary co-presence.

It has also expressed in his relationship with his father, with whom he’s stated having a distant relationship.

There are other ways in which these planets played out for him personally, but let’s look at how the Sun-Saturn themes show up in Game of Thrones.

The Cold Open

When the series begins, we meet three rangers from the Night’s Watch who are on a scouting mission in a snowy forest beyond the Great Wall. This huge 700 ft wall separates the northernmost kingdom of Westeros from the frozen lands further north. The 3 rangers discover several dismembered human bodies that later disappear from a campsite. When they investigate further, a tall, humanoid figure with glowing blue eyes – i.e. a White Walker -- arrives and kills Ser Waymar and Gared, leaving only a single ranger, who escapes to the south, presumably to warn others.

Sometimes, the scenery itself speaks volumes about an archetype. This forest is dark and cold, and in the northernmost part of Westeros, which is completely evocative of Saturn, the coldest, darkest planet, which also happens to rule boundaries, stone, and ice, of which the wall is built. Not only that, but Saturn’s placement in Martin’s birth chart is at the very bottom of the chart, exactly in the most northern part. As an aside, in case you haven’t learned this yet: horoscopes are flipped in terms of our map’s cardinal directions. We don’t know why. But it probably originates with the Egyptians, who liked to flip their maps. So, east is on the left, and celestial north is at the bottom of the horoscopic circle, which represents midnight, the darkest and most unseen part in the chart.

Ned Stark

After that opening, we get a bit of sunlight joining the North, when we meet Eddard, or Ned Stark, the patriarch of the Stark family, and Lord of Winterfell. His family is part of a very old noble family that’s ruled over the Kingdom of the North for millennia. The name Stark evokes the cold, harsh, and dark nature of the planet Saturn and the vast realm of the North. But Ned himself is very Sun-Saturn in his inclinations. He’s a loving man, who's nonetheless driven by the weight of his responsibilities as Lord of Winterfell. In fact, shortly after we first meet Ned, he’s forced by his position to execute Will, the escaped ranger, for his desertion. Ned chooses to bring his son Bran along, to watch the execution, in order to teach him the commendable value that “the man who passes the sentence, should swing the sword.”

There’s no shirking of responsibilities in this man, who's considered to be extremely honorable by almost every other character who knows him. Ned represents the Sun-Saturn co-presence because he lives by his choices and, most importantly, is faithful to his promises and oaths, no matter how painful or dangerous they may ultimately be for him. There are many examples of this, but the main one, which we don’t learn about until season 6, is his promise to his sister Lyanna to secretly raise her Targaryen son Jon as his own illegitimate son, in order to protect the boy from certain death. For years, Ned quietly assumed the undeserved reputation of having betrayed his wife, and even tolerated her resentment of the boy, without ever betraying his secret promise to his sister. As we see throughout season 1, Ned is willing to suffer any consequence – even death – for the sake of self-fidelity.

The Sun-Saturn Square

While Ned represents the Saturn-Sun co-presence, that cycle between both planes creates other angles between them, which are also depicted in the show. For example, Sun-square-Saturn also symbolizes broken promises and oaths; but because the squares involve 4 and 10 sign angles, the struggle with them are not about one’s values or way of perceiving the world, but rather between two different external forces. The squares tend to involve societal or occupational obligations versus the love of family or place. Sometimes, there are necessary dislocations in geography, or necessary isolations from family, required with the opening square. With the closing, or 10^th sign square, the tension comes from one’s status or occupational duty. But in either case, we struggle with a lack of choice to follow our hearts.

Will, in the Cold Open

The first example of this occurs in the cold open involving the actions of the ranger who escapes the White Walkers with his life. His name is Will, and he knows that to be a part of the Night's Watch, one must swear a vow for life. Most of the men on the wall are criminals who have little choice about being there. As Tyrion explains to Jon Snow: “Rapists get a choice: either take the Black (that is, become a member of the Nights Watch) or get castrated. Most choose the knife”. So the Night’s Watch is hardly a solar, cheery place; it’s Saturnian, and based upon necessity: the need to protect the realm. Saturn, you should also note, is also depicted as the grim reaper, who brings death after old age, since death is the most feared necessity. In keeping with this theme, Will knows that he’ll be executed for treason if he breaks his oath and runs south. So his choices are to risk being beheaded by the White Walkers, or to go south and risk being executed by Lord Stark, who’s tasked with judging deserters from the Night's Watch. Will is therefore, the first strong Sun-square-Saturn character, because he struggles with a choice between duty and a forced dislocation that ends up costing him his life. Sound familiar? Yes, his executor gets to make the same choice and suffers the same exact cost.

Ned’s Two Mistakes

While Ned is the embodiment of a Sun-Saturn copresence, his two greatest mistakes in the series reflect the unfolding of that Sun-Saturn cycle into the square. The first mistake occurs when King Robert, Ned’s long-time friend, asks him to come to King’s Landing to become his Hand. While it’s a prestigious position, Ned knows this will involve a forced dislocation, having to leave his family, and probably risking his own life after it is discovered that the previous Hand to the King was murdered. In reality, Ned and Will face identically bad options. But, as the King’s liege subject and dearest friend, Ned feels compelled by his sense of duty and a lack of choice, even as his wife Catelyn tearily reminds him that “You do have a choice, and you’ve made it.” 

His next mistake comes after Ned discloses to Queen Cersei that he knows her children are not Robert’s biological children and therefore have no claim to the throne. He reveals this to her in the hope that she and the children will leave the city and escape, before he tells Robert. He does this out of a sense of compassion for the lives of the children, giving little thought to his own safety. He’s torn between his sense of duty and his love of family and children, even if not his own.

Ned’s merciful revelation gets him thrown into a dungeon for treason and ultimately publicly executed. It’s Varys who reminds him that he also has a duty to his daughters and to admit to the treason so he can plead for mercy for himself. But Ned responds by holding firm to his solar judgement in the face of Saturn’s certain death: “You think my life is such a precious thing to me, that I would trade my honor for a few more years of what?” But Varys wisely pits one of Ned’s moral standards against another that’s closer to home: “What of your daughter's life, my lord? Is that a precious thing to you?” Family versus duty! As usual, Ned is behind a Saturnian rock and a hard place with his choices. He confesses to undermining the throne for himself, a crime that he didn’t commit, but gets executed anyway. In a treacherous world such as Westeros, being righteous can easily turn deadly.

Jon Snow

Jon Snow expresses the similar Sun-square-Saturn struggle of having to choose between vows of duty and love of family. Maester Aemon, who had to make a similar choice when he first joined the Night's Watch, explains it most eloquently when he asks Jon Snow: “Tell me, did you ever wonder why the men of the Night’s Watch take no wives and father no children? So they will not love. Love is the death of duty.” At that moment, Jon must decide whether to break his vows to the Night's Watch in order to go help his brother Robb liberate their father and sisters from captivity. It’s a choice between duty and family, also involving dislocation, not unlike the one Ned makes to Robert. Except that Jon is talked into returning back by Sam and his brothers in the Night's Watch.

Jaime Lannister

The character that best embodies the Sun-square-Saturn variant of broken promises is Jaime Lannister. Jaime is a member of the Kingsguard, who take a lifelong vow of service to protect the king. In the events before the series, Jaime had sworn an oath to protect King Aerys II. But King Aerys was a bit unhinged, rather paranoid, and obsessed with fire. Aerys asked Jaime to kill his own father before threatening to destroy all of King's Landing with wildfire. In an act seen by some as treasonous, Jaime stabbed the Mad King in the back and killed him, earning him the nickname "Kingslayer" and a reputation of disgrace and shame, despite having saved countless lives. It’s a bad choice taken in the name of a greater love, this one to his father and his city, both 4^th sign angle themes.

It’s Jaime himself who recognizes the absurdity of making lifelong vows, many of which often become contradictory and impossible to fulfill. In a brilliantly written scene, he tells Catelyn: "So many vows... they make you swear and swear. Defend the King, obey the King, obey your father, protect the innocent, defend the weak. But what if your father despises the King? What if the King massacres the innocent? It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or another.”

When we first meet Jaime, he’s smug, spoiled and sarcastic. But there’s also an underlying existential angst that comes across beneath the emotional detachment with which he confronts deadly situations without a care for his own life. Jaime has repressed his solar side and embraced the nihilism of Saturn, but he does so consciously. He makes it clear to Brienne that he’s very aware of how society judges him: "There it is. There's the look. I've seen it for 17 years on face after face. You all despise me. Kingslayer. Oathbreaker. A man without honor." (Tywin was right: the Lion does concern himself with the opinions of the sheep.)

And that’s what makes Jaime’s later redemption arc so interesting. It’s Brienne, who embodies the best of solar-Saturn symbolism, much like Ned did, who inspires in Jaime the loyalty and capacity for rectitude that is still present within him.

Jaime’s full return to solar symbolism occurs when he decides to posthumously honor the deal he made with Catelyn, by entrusting Brienne to find her daughters and bring them safely back home. He seals Brienne’s mission with a Valyrian steel sword, appropriately forged from Ned’s old one, which Brienne fittingly names "Oathkeeper". Jaime’s story is not just a great redemption arc, it’s also a reclaiming of the Sun from Saturn’s dominion. And yes, I’m aware that the plot of season 8 of the show unfortunately reversed much of his character growth with terrible writing. But for the purposes of this video, we’ll just pretend that even if, in the books, Jaime does also end up dying with Cersei, it won’t be because he’s regressed back to the same self-hatred that we saw in season 1. We’ll let George do Jaime greater justice.

Theon Greyjoy

One of the show’s most heartbreaking characters is Theon Greyjoy, who's played brilliantly by Alfie Allen. He’s our last Sun-square-Saturn example. Theon is the eldest son of Baelon Greyjoy, raised as a ward of the Starks, after Baelon’s rebellion failed against them. Although Theon was treated well by the Stark family, it’s clear that he feels like an outsider and abandoned by his own father. He constantly tries to prove his loyalty to the Starks, and is hurt when he’s reminded by Robb that he doesn’t have to make tough decisions about the family, because it’s not his own family. Nonetheless, when Robb is proclaimed King in the North, Theon swears an enthusiastic oath of fealty to him: “My sword is yours, in victory and defeat, from this day until my last day". 

The problem is that Theon is a man tortured by a need for validation. He’s consumed by his perceived family neglect (Saturn) and over-compensates to bolster his own ego (Sun). As an example, he tells Maester Luwin that the Greyjoys are known for their “excellent archery skills and love-making”. He also tries to ingratiate himself to Ned by impulsively volunteering to kill the direwolf puppies, or when he’s quick to go to battle for the Starks after Catelyn discovers that someone tried to kill Bran twice. And when Robb seeks alliances to help him fight his war against the Lannisters, Theon sees this as an opportunity to endear himself to the Starks by securing his father’s allegiance to them. However, upon his return to the Iron Islands, he finds his family less than receptive. They see the Starks' absence from the North as an opportunity to raid the villages and instead force Theon to choose which family he will side with. Theon betrays his oath to Robb and to the whole family by sacking Winterfell in a misguided attempt to reclaim his Ironborn heritage and impress his biological father. This is a classic Saturn-square-Sun decision. Theon’s plan backfires and it leads to his own imprisonment and sadistic torture by Ramsay Bolton, culminating in shame, guilt, and in a complete breakdown of his already, fragile ego.

As mentioned, Saturn-Sun often involves father issues. There can be emotional or physical distance from a cold, demanding, rejecting or abandoning parent. Baelon is certainly all of these things to Theon. And while Ned was not neglectful of Theon, the fact that he was not his biological father, but rather his captor, automatically makes him the second emotionally distant parental figure in his life. Our father figures are really just proxies for the development of our own solar traits of self-confidence, self-esteem, a healthy ego and a sense of integrity and self-fidelity. But with a Saturn aspect, the development of these solar traits become a life-long struggle in one way or another. Surprisingly, Theon’s sister, Yara, is the one who actually displays a far more solid solar nature. We’re told that “she knows who she is” and she doesn’t need to prove it to anyone. Yara is a person who's integrated her solar identity. We can see this because it’s her loyalty and love for Theon that helps to spark his eventual mental salvation and redemption arc. The integrated solar archetype will inspire others through leadership that transcends the needs of the self. Several characters, including Yara, exemplify this in the show.

The Sun-Saturn Opposition

The last Saturn and Sun relationship I want to address is the opposition. This aspect usually occurs when the heart or ego is pitted against one’s duties and obligations, within relationships or contracts. This often occurs within marriages, or when deals are struck between two equal parties, often to resolve a conflict or impasse. 

Robb Stark

Robb Stark, Ned’s eldest son, is the character who best embodies the Saturn-Sun opposition in the plot. After Ned is taken captive and he’s led to believe that both his sisters are also captive in King’s Landing, Robb calls his bannermen and declares war on the Lannisters. Robb is barely a child (in the books he’s actually 14 at that time) and yet, circumstances have forced him into a confrontation that he didn’t plan on. But like his father, he rises to the occasion with courage and a sense of duty that his bannermen respect, to the point of later proclaiming him King in the North. He inherits his father’s morality and larger sense of responsibility, one that’s befitting a just leader. This is evident when he tells the Frey girls: "All men should keep their word, kings most of all."

But Robb must also contend with the necessities of youth, and they end up competing with the responsibilities of a dutybound leader. This is fitting, because the Sun is a youthful archetype, while Saturn is represented by maturity and age. Like the aspect, youthful Robb faces off with the curmudgeonly old man, Walder Frey, over the issue of marriage. So, while Ned sits in a dungeon, Robb sees no other option but to agree to a deal whereby he gets to cross his men over Frey’s bridge if he agrees, among other things, to marry one of the old man’s daughters. However, Robb later unexpectedly falls in love with Talisa, a young nurse in his camp, who treats the wounded on either side of the war. Taken up by his passion and contrary to his mother’s reminders that he’s “not free to heed his heart”, Robb breaks his oath to Walder Frey and marries Talisa anyway. In other words, he chooses heart over duty.

This broken promise results in one of the bloodiest and most shocking events in the whole series. At the infamous Red Wedding, a resentful Frey decides to murder everyone in the Stark wedding party: Robb, his new wife Talisa and their unborn child, his mother Catelyn, all his men attending the wedding, and even his direwolf! The Red Wedding was not just the unforeseen consequence of a violation of an oath on Robb’s part, it was also a violation of sacred guest rights on the part of Walder Frey. In Westerosi culture, a host is obligated to protect his guests, a pledge ritually symbolized by breaking bread and salt, which we see the Starks engage in, upon their arrival at the Twins. This violation of guest rights is also a form of oath-breaking, one which Bran tells his friends the Gods can never forgive. 

Rhaegar, Cersei, Robert

Marriage vows are forms of Saturn-Sun oppositions that are constantly broken in the series by various characters. In George’s chart, Saturn’s in the 4^th house of family and the Sun is in the 5^th of children. So these decisions that betray one’s oath will often involve constraints to family and acts of loyalty for the sake of one’s children.

The most obvious and chronic betrayal of marriage vows involves Robert Baratheon, who engages in constant whoring -- often in front of his wife Cersei -- and who fathers numerous bastards out of wedlock. This strains his marriage, fuels Cersei’s resentment, and indirectly leads to problems of succession that start a war involving two continents.

Cersei herself also breaks her marriage vows by having an adulterous affair with her twin brother Jaime, producing three children (Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen) and falsely passing them off as Robert's. This then leads to Jon Arryn’s discovery and murder, King Robert's murder, Ned’s imprisonment and execution, and again, the subsequent War of the Five Kings.

But the most significant broken marriage vows happens 14 years before the events that we witness. This, of course, is Rhaegar Targaryen’s broken marriage vows to his wife Elia Martell. Let’s not forget that A Song of Ice and Fire is essentially a tragedy that started with love. It’s Rhaegar’s love for Ned’s sister, Lyanna Stark, and their secret elopement, that sparks Robert's Rebellion. This affair contributes to the downfall of House Targaryen and to the deaths of Elia and her children.

But it’s not until season 6 that we learn that these broken marriage vows culminated in Lyanna secretly having Rhaegar’s child, Jon Snow, in the Tower of Joy. In order to protect his life, Lyanna is forced out of necessity, and through a lack of better options, since she was basically dying in childbirth, to secure a promise from Ned to raise her son as his illegitimate child and keep his identity hidden. Thus, we come full circle with the entire story resting on a cascade of tragic, broken promises.

I hope you enjoyed and learned something about Sun-Saturn themes in astrology. We may take up other themes in this thematically rich series in the future. But in the meantime, drop us your suggestions in the comments of other movies with strong astrology themes that you’d like to see us review.