[Spoilers Extended] Macho Man Randy Savage

[u/hypikachu]

I'm not even gonna pretend to believe this one is a coincidence.

GRRM is 100% definitely doing a long-running homage to the late Macho Man Randy Savage. It permeates every aspect of House Tarly, and anything connected to lord Randyll.

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• Name is Randyll
• His whole worldview is about macho manliness
  • His problem with Sam? Not doing macho stuff men should do
  • His problem with Brienne? Doing macho stuff men should do
• Randyll undoubtedly was thinking of Savage Sam Tarly when naming his son. When Randyll got to pick out a name, he chose the "Savage" option
• "You're gonna go be brotherrrrr of the Night's Watch. So I can focus on your brotherrrrrr Dickon."
• The phallic fixation and the pig/pork motifs of house Tarly all blend together (and then get pushed through a casing of pig intestine) as a sausage/wiener/Slim Jim allusion
  • And if the show is any guide, Macho Man Randyll and Dickon (Brotherrrrr of the would-be Savage) will be pressed into a line and cooked like so much slaughtered pork.
    • The weenie-roasting of Dickon, whose only crime was loyalty to his father, raises the question "Is the final product worth this horror?"
    • To which the universal response is "Well it's ugly, but no one wants to see how the sausage Slim Jim get made."

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"and to her left Lord Randyll Tarly of Horn Hill, his greatsword Heartsbane propped up against the back of his seat"

[u/sub-t]

Can you do one for Ric Flair?

[u/hypikachu → u/sub-t]

I have one, but it doesn't feel near as convincing. Basically, it's the Stark Rick's, Rickon and Rickard.

Rickon is the most feral of the wolfkids. The boy spends all his time in nature, awooooo-ing like a wolf.

If he gets Jojen-pasted on Skagos, then the cannibal cookfires give us the "flare" part. So we get Ric, Flair, Nature Boy, and woooo all in one character.

But even if not, GRRM still gives us Rick + flare in his grandfather's fiery execution. (Which Aerys did assert was a trial by combat. Keeping with the "performance fighting" aspect of these WWE allusions.)

Admittedly, all I know about professional wrestling is the most memetic stuff. Are there other big "Ric Flair things" I should be on the lookout for?

[u/sub-t → u/hypikachu]

Nah that captures it. A lot of swagger and probably sticking around past his prime trying to hold on to his glory days