Who was she?

I could tell you everything about her.

Who she was, how we met.

The color of her eyes, and the shape of her nose.

I can see her, right in front of me.

She's more real than you are.

Here's his backstory from the Dunk and Egg novellas:

When his father died his two older brothers were already dead and he was a Maester. The Great Council gathered in King's Landing to decide the succession. Rightful heir would be the child of his oldest brother, but he was a whoring drunkard who left only a half-witted daughter. Next in line would be the child of Aemon's second brother, but he was a lunatic who drank wildlfire thinking it would turn him into a dragon so his son was not a bright prospect for a ruler. The Council then offered the crown in secret to Aemon, but he refused as he would have to broke the vows he took as a Maester. The crown then passed to his younger brother (who was a fourth son of a fourth son which earned him a nickname Aegon the Unlikely). Maester Aemon was afraid that someone would try to use him to usurp the throne from his brother, so he joined the Night's Watch.

Thanks for stashing - this is great!

I thought so, too. Those Dunk and Egg novellas are definitely worth reading!

http://pandawhale.com/post/23179/so-make-more-robert-baratheon-demands-more-game-of-thrones-episodes-grrm-dunk-and-egg-novellas-anyone

Reddit comments about Maester Aemon's speech: http://reddit.com/r/gameofthrones/co...     

Related scene at 2:40 ...

"...when I had refused the throne..."

This episode, though it was a prolonged action/battle scene, was really about love.

Because of Sam/Gilly, Jon/Ygritte, and Maester Aemon?

Or also the love of the brothers of the Night Watch for each other?

Yes, all of it.  

Love is the death of duty:

http://pandawhale.com/post/21224/love-is-the-death-of-duty-robb-stark-chooses-love-jon-snow-chooses-duty

Compare Aemon Targaryen with Robert Baratheon:

Reddit comments:

http://reddit.com/r/gameofthrones/comments/284509/s4e9_interesting_contrast_between_these_scenes/

From the Reddit comments:

The contrast between Robert and Aemon here is actually pretty profound.

Robert's lust for Lyanna (it would be folly to describe it as love) obviously played a large part in his eventual usurpation of the throne. Aemon passed over the throne and decided to take the black instead. It's difficult to say which impulse, Robert's lust or Aemon's love, worked out better for either man.

Robert was king for seventeen years and led his life to the fullest, albeit dying prematurely as a result. Aemon is probably the oldest character we've seen up to this point, which is an achievement unto itself.

Robert died at 35. Aemon is 102. Love beats lust but duty beats love.

Brother love:

Here's a blow-by-blow account of the battle and some other nice pics, too.  

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/channel-surfer/game-thrones-season-4-episode-9-recap-jon-snow-watchers-wall-face-uphill-battle-blog-entry-1.1822437

This is wonderful. And I had to give Sam his own page:

http://pandawhale.com/post/45309/i-promise-you-i-wont-die-samwell-tarly-s4e9

More Game of Thrones season 4 episode 9:

http://pandawhale.com/post/45247/game-of-thrones-season-4-episode-9-the-watchers-on-the-wall-gifs-and-memes