A Game of Thrones Reread - Part 12

Another day, another reread post! It's getting very difficult for me to take a break from reading to type these posts up, I just want to keep going. Today we have Arya meeting her "dancing" instructor. I meant to include Daenerys' chapter too, but it's late so one chapter is all for today. I did finish reading the Mystery Knight however (an excellent addition to the Dunk & Egg series), so we should get back to normal now.

Now, boy, click the read more link right here. Just so.

ARYA

Summary

Arya was having dinner already, when her father walked in late, and he was in a foul mood. Jory asked him about the tourney, which made Sansa excited - she lived to see a tourney. Father did not want to have the tourney, and told his daughters he wouldn't have them attend. Sansa was crushed, and Septa Mordane spoke up for her, so Father said she could go. Arya said she would never go, as Prince Joffrey would be there and she hated him. This led to a shouting match between the sisters, which only ended when her Father said enough, and he left the table.

After Father left, nobody talked to Arya, and she liked it better that way. She reminisced about Winterfell and how her Father had always eaten with his men, and how much she loved hearing their voices and talking to them. But that was then. They'd let the Queen kill Lady, and the Hound kill Mycah, and none of them said or did anything about it. Finally Arya had enough and got up to leave. Septa Mordane told her to sit back down and to finish her meal, but Arya yelled at her and ran to her room.

Once in her room, she finally allowed herself to cry. Arya went to her chest, where she had hidden her sword, and removed Needle. There was a pounding at the door and Septa Mordane yelled for her. Arya yelled back and the Septa said she would tell the Hand. Arya thought about Jon, thinking that if he were there she wouldn't feel so alone. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock at the door. It was her father. After she let him in, his eyes went right to the sword. She handed it to him, and he saw that it bore the maker's mark from Mikken, and marveled that his nine-year-old daughter was being armed from his own forge without his knowledge. He asked where she got it, but she would not give up Jon. Father said she had the wolf blood in her, just like Brandon and Lyanna, who were both dead before their time.

"Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it. You remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her."

"Lyanna was beautiful," Arya said, startled. Everybody said so. It was not a thing that was ever said of Arya.

Father agreed with her, and asked what she intended to do with the sword, if she even knew the first thing about sword fighting. She said that she was practicing, that she had asked Mycah to practice with her, but then she broke down crying, saying that everything that happened was her fault. Father came to her and held her, telling her not to blame herself. To blame the Hound and the awful woman he served. She said that Joffrey lied. Her father said that they all lie, that he didn't believe that Nymeria ran off. Arya admitted that she and Jory were forced to throw rocks at Nymeria to chase her away. Her father told her that her lie was not without honor. He asked her to sit down, that he needed to explain some things. He explained that dark times were coming, and that to remember the Stark words - Winter is coming, and their sigil - the direwolf.

"Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives."

 He told her that Septa Mordane is a good woman, and that Sansa is her sister, and that he needs both of them. He told her it was time to start growing up. Arya never loved him more than just then, and hugged him. He returned Needle to her and told her should could keep it. The next morning Arya apologized to Septa Mordane and was on her best behavior.

Three days later Arya was sent to the Small Hall. All the tables and chairs had been moved to create space in the center of the Hall. A voice told her she was late, when a slight man with a bald head and a large nose stepped out holding two practice swords. He had an accent native to Free Cities, either Braavos or Myr. He introduced himself as her dancing master. He gave Arya one of the swords, and she held it in her left hand. The man was impressed, saying the left hand was good, it would keep opponents off balance. The sword was heavy, and Arya asked what would happen if she dropped it.

"The steel must be part of your arm," the bald man told her. "Can you drop part of your arm? No. Nine years Syrio Forel was first sword to the Sealord of Braavos, he knows these things. Listen to him, boy."

 This was the third time he had referred to her as boy, and Arya corrected him. Syrio Forel was unimpressed, he said boy or girl didn't matter, she was a sword, that was all. Now he was not going to teach her the iron dance of the knights of Westeros, but the water dance instead. For the next four hours, Arya tried to hit Syrio with her sword. And the next day, her work truly began.

My Thoughts

It's been awhile since we were in Arya's head. She is clearly going through some shit. She feels responsible for the death of her friend, the death of her sister's wolf, and the loss of her own wolf. And as Ned has been so busy, you know, running the kingdom, he hasn't been much of a help. And Sansa and her friends certainly haven't done anything to alleviate Arya's guilt, just making it worse and worse. And she's only nine!

Syrio Forel is one of the more popular side characters. His attitude, his manner of speech, and his skill with the sword all make him incredibly cool. And he is also one of the characters with the more ambiguous endings. When he later defends Arya from Ser Meryn Trant and some goldcloaks (I think they were goldcloaks), he fights them all off using only the wooden practice sword. And Arya runs away so we don't know if he survived the encounter! Theories abound about whether we will see him again (or have seen him again), and I for one hope we do.

I think the most important part of this chapter (other than Ned's badass line quoted above "the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives") is this is truly Arya's first step from the child she is, to the deadly young woman she will become. Sure she was practicing with Mycah on the kingsroad, but she was still a child, wrapped in innocence. Now after losing her friend and seeing Lady killed, she is beginning to see the world as it truly is.


And that's it for today! Sorry for the short(er) post today. Tomorrow we should have Daenerys and Bran.