Disenchantment season 2 is filled with a surprising number of Game of Thrones references. While the animated series has become famous for its many in-jokes and Easter Eggs, it was still unexpected to see so many nods to the HBO fantasy series, which recently ended its eight season run.
Series creator Matt Groening originally decreed that Disenchantment would avoid direct references to Game of Thrones after its first episode and the parody of the Iron Throne which (eventually) claimed the life of Princess Bean’s betrothed, Prince Guysbert. It was Groening’s opinion that they should avoid any overt nods to the show or George R.R. Martin’s books because the audience would be expecting it after all the classic science-fiction references in Futurama, and good comedy should be based on doing the unexpected. However, based on season 2 of Disenchantment, it seems that Groening either had a change of heart or decided that indirect references were fair game.
Disenchantment, season 2, episode 1, “The Disenchantress,” sees Bean traveling to the island city-state of Maru, which seems to be modeled on the Slaver City of Meereen, with its large pyramids and warm climate. It is here that Bean (who was often compared to a buck-toothed Daenerys Targaryen in season 1) is told of the history of her mother’s family and how there is a curse that inflicts murderous insanity on every other generation. This prompts Bean to realize how many people she’s killed, directly and indirectly, but she justifies it to herself by saying that they all deserved it. This is all uncomfortably close to the behavior that Daenerys showed in later seasons of Game of Thrones, dismissing more and more violent atrocities by saying it was okay to kill people who were getting in the way of her establishing a more just and noble empire.
Episode 4 of Disenchantment season 2, “The Lonely Heart Is a Hunter,” seemed to pay tribute to one of Game of Thrones stranger romantic tales. The episode saw King Zog finding new love with a woman named Ursula, whom he met while hunting in the Enchanted Forest. A large, amazonian beauty whose brutality was a match for Zog’s, Ursula later revealed that she was a forest selkie: a magical bear who transformed into a woman when she removed her skin.
While this episode evoked several aspects of Scottish and Norse mythology, one moment of it seemed to be a direct nod to Game of Thrones and the character of Tormund Giantsbane. A known teller of tall tales, Tormund claimed to have had once accidentally had sex with a bear one night when he braved the cold in search of a woman he knew and wound up in a she-bear’s cave by mistake. While there is no accident in Zog’s choosing to mate with Ursula, the Disenchantment episode makes it clear that Zog and Ursula consummated their relationship at least once while Ursula was in her true bear form, after Zog attempts to put on her bear skin and declares that “this time, I’ll be the bear!” Tormund would almost certainly approve.
More: What To Expect From Disenchantment Season 3
