A Game of Thrones Reread - Part 19

Ah, another look in at the goings on South of the Wall. The Hand's tourney is only half over, with some more intrigue and shady dealing to come. And that's not limited to the tournament, as Ned will continue his investigation into Jon Arryn's death. He's already been manipulated by Littlefinger, so now Varys takes a turn. Oh Ned. Stupid noble Ned.

Please remember, as always, that South of the Wall is NOT a spoiler-free zone. We are literally covered in spoilers. Dripping in spoilers. They are everywhere! So if you haven't read through A Feast for Crows, proceed at your own peril.

EDDARD

Summary

Ned stood with Ser Barristan Selmy, looking at the body of the knight who was killed in the tourney. Ser Barristan told Ned that he stood vigil for the boy last night, and told Ned that the boy had squired for Jon Arryn for years, and was knighted after Arryn's death. Ned wondered if the boy was dead, killed by Ser Gregor - a Lannister bannerman, because of him. Ned told the silent sister to have Ser Hugh's armor sent home to the Vale. Ser Barristan pointed out the armor would be worth a fair amount of silver, the boy had it commissioned special for the tourney.

Ned and Ser Barristan walked to the king's pavilion, discussing Robert's intention to enter the melee. Once they entered the pavilion they saw Robert's two squires attempting to put the king's armor on him. Robert was cursing them, but Ned interrupted and told Robert that they were not at fault, he was too fat for his armor. Robert looked at Ned darkly, and then laughed and told him he was right. He sent the squires to the master-at-arms to have his breastplate stretched. As they left, Ned noted they were both Lannisters, cousins to the queen. Robert cursed Cersei, saying that Lyanna never would have forbid him the fight.

"You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert," Ned told him. "You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath. She would have told you that you have no business in the melee."

The king was unfazed, until  Ser Barristan stepped in and pointed out that no one else in the melee would dare fight him. Ned picked up on what Ser Barristan was doing, and appealed to Robert's pride. Robert was incredibly angry, and ordered Ser Barristan out of the tent. Once Ser Barristan was gone, Robert began to speak to Ned. He said he had never felt as alive as when he fought for the throne, and never so dead as when he sits on it. He curses Jon Arryn for talking him in to marrying Cersei. He then apologizes to Ned about Sansa's wolf, saying that he was sure his son was lying.

"Let me tell you a secret, Ned. More than once, I have dreamed of giving up the crown. Take ship for the Free Cities with my horse and my hammer, spend my time warring and whoring, that's what I was made for. The sellsword king, how the singers would love me. You know what stops me? The thought of Joffrey on the throne, with Cersei standing behind him whispering in his ear. My son. How could I have made a son like that?"

Ned offers a half-hearted defense of Joffrey, saying he may grow into a better man. The king shook his head and said maybe he was right, as Jon Arryn despaired of Robert often yet he grew into a good king. He looked to Ned for agreement, but Ned said nothing, then started to form words.

Robert slapped Ned on the back. "Ah, say that I'm a better king than Aerys and be done with it. You never could lie for love nor honor, Ned Stark. I'm still young, and now that you're here with me, things will be different. We'll make this a reign to sing of, and damn the Lannisters to seven hells."

They made their way to get breakfast and began talking about the tourney. Robert says that Ser Loras is someone any man would be proud to call son, and that Renly has been telling Robert that Loras has a sister, only fourteen and lovely. Robert and Ned joked over breakfast, and Ned thought this was the man he knew, the friend he loved as closer than a brother. If he could bring the proof the Lannisters treachery to Robert, Robert would believe and stand up to the Lannisters. Ned was in a good mood for the first time since he arrived at King's Landing.

Ned joined Sansa to watch the joust. Sandor Clegane faced off Jaime Lannister. Littlefinger bet on Jaime, and Renly took the bet. On the second tilt Sandor unseated Jaime, and Sansa said she knew the Hound would win. Renly commented that he wished the Imp was there, as he would have won twice as much. The next match was Ser Gregor against Ser Loras. Ned thought of Gregor and all the horrible things said. That Gregor had been the one to smash the infant Aegon Targaryen's head against the wall, and then raped Elia before killing her. That he had killed his first two wives, and his father. As Ser Loras and Ser Gregor prepared to tilt, Gregor's horse started giving him trouble. As they galloped towards each other Gregor's horse never settled and Loras unseated him on the first pass. Gregor grabbed his sword, walked to his horse, and savagely hacked at its head killing it. He then advanced towards Ser Loras who was calling for his own sword, but before he could retrieve it Gregor had knocked him from his horse. As Gregor prepared to deliver the killing blow a voice said leave him be and a hand yanked him away. Ser Gregor turned to face the Hound and they savagely fought each other. Ned noted that Gregor aimed a blow at the Hound's head at least three times, but the Hound never once aimed a blow at Gregor's unprotected head. This continued until the king yelled for it to stop. After Gregor stormed away Ser Loras approached the Hound and forfeited the match to him, in thanks for saving his life.

As Ned walked with Sansa, Renly, and Littlefinger to the archery tournament Littlefinger was saying that Loras must have known his mare was in heat, and would affect Gregor's mount. A boy named Anguy won the archery tournament, beating out Jalabhar Xho and Ser Balon Swann. The melee was next, and Thoros of Myr - with his bald head and flaming sword - was the champion.

Everyone was in good spirits, and that night even Sansa and Arya spoke to one another. Arya was talking about her dancing lessons, and Ned thought about the strange practice Syrio Forel assigned to Arya. The other day he had seen her walking in a blindfold, because Syrio was teaching her to see with her ears and nose and skin. She had also been practicing spins and backflips, and said next shew would catch cats.

Once he reached his own room Ned thought about his investigation, wondering how it was all connected. Ned was then surprised to have a visitor, a man in mud-crusted boots and a heavy coarse robe. The man then revealed himself as Varys. Varys told Ned it was a near thing today, that they planned to kill Robert in the melee. Varys told Ned that Ned was the only true friend Robert had, and his only chance at saving the kingdom from the Lannisters. Varys tells Ned that the Lannisters fear Ned, as they believe Robert would never turn on Ned, even if it meant going against Casterly Rock. As Varys prepares to leave, Ned asks how Jon Arryn died. Varys tells him the tears of Lys were used, an undetectable poison, but he didn't know who delivered it, although his squire didn't return to the Eyrie with Lysa and was wearing expensive armor. Ned asked why the Hand would be killed now, after fourteen years, and Varys told him for asking questions.

My Thoughts

First off, holy crap that was a long one. Sorry for the long summary, but it seemed like a lot of important things happened in the chapter and I wanted to touch on them all. I really want to talk about Ned and Robert, but I'll cover the larger plot points first. First off, we get our first really good look at Ser Barristan Selmy, and can see that he really is a good man. He stood vigil for the poor young knight that Sansa already forgot, and he showed his intelligence in convincing Robert not to enter the melee. Varys also admits that Ser Barristan is the only true knight in the Kingsguard.

As to poor dead Ser Hugh with his expensive armor - we should just call him Ser Red Herring. Even knowing what happens, I was taken in on the false bait on yesterday's post. Ser Hugh had nothing to do with Jon Arryn's death, and Ser Gregor did just kill him because Gregor is a Grade-A Son Of A Bitch. It sure did seem like Ser Hugh did it, and Varys sure makes it look that way. Did Varys do that on his own, or did Littlefinger conspire with him? Varys's statements here definitely deflect the suspicion from Lysa, which can only aid Littlefinger. But okay, moving on before this devolves into another "What the hell is Littlefinger doing?" post.

A few more points:

Robert mentions that Renly has been talking up Margaery Tyrell to him.

Ser Gregor? Scary dude. The Hound? Pretty awesome.

Arya practicing blindfolded? Foreshadowing much? Hopefully we see Arya deal with her blindness in A Dance with Dragons. I think at one point GRRM said we'd get Arya in it, but I don't know if that info is current.

I suppose we don't REALLY know Varys's game, but I think it is pretty clear he is conspiring to put the Targaryens back on the throne. This is supported by his clandestine conversation with Illyrion (coming up soon). But if that is the case, what does he have to benefit by talking to Ned here? I may be naive/foolish, but I think Varys does mean it when he says he does what he does for the good of the kingdom. Obviously that is open to interpretation, but what I mean is that Varys isn't looking for personal power. But if that were the case, wouldn't he want the Lannisters to get rid of Robert? Or maybe he sees the Lannisters as the bigger threat and a Baratheon/Stark alliance can cut them down to size? Anyone have any Varys thoughts?

Now for the big one! I think more than anywhere else, this chapter shows us why Ned is friends with Robert. Hell, this shows us why Robert even got to be king in the first place! As I was reading this, I was thinking about how much I'd love to read a story about Ned and Robert being boys together at the Eyrie. There's was the friendship that changed the world. They grew up together as best friends, more brothers to each other than to their blood relatives. Once the Mad King ordered their deaths, they teamed up and took down the motherfucking government! Robert won battles, Ned won battles, Robert saved Ned, Ned saved Robert, they were the shit. Sorry for the profanity, but I would just love to read about them at their peak, instead of at their decline as they are here. The saddest part is that Robert knows he is no longer the man he was. He is not joking when he talks about riding to the Free Cities to be a sellsword, but the time for that is past. Robert, despite his claims otherwise, is not a young man anymore. He also knows he is not a good king, but at least he is better than Aerys. And as Robert has not burned anyone alive, I think it is safe to say that he definitely isn't the worst king Westeros has had. He is even genuinely contrite about the death of Lady.

And of course, the king makes a very astute observation about his own son. So astute that I think it very likely that he would have believed Ned if Ned had told him the truth about Joffrey's parentage. I know Ned doesn't have that knowledge yet, but he should have just told Robert when he found out. Bah, that's the downside of this chapter, and the biggest downside of rereading these books. These chapters are just so hopeful! The old Robert is back! He hates the Lannisters! He and Ned will join forces like they did in their youth and they will fix the kingdom! It's all right there for the taking, they can do it! But we all know what is coming. Every Ned chapter I read I just see a Doomsday clock ticking down at the top of the page.

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And that's it for this week! When I said I was only going to do one chapter a night, I hadn't planned on making the one chapter write-up the same length as the two chapters were before, but hey, it happens. If you stuck around this long, thanks! I'll try to keep my summaries to a more manageable level. Now I'm off to sleep, while thinking about how cool it would be to get a short story from GRRM about Ned and Robert raising hell at the Eyrie.  What did everyone else think?