A Game of Thrones Reread - Part 3

Part Three of the reread already??  Where does the time go.  In the next two chapters we get into the heads of Eddard and Jon, and are introduced to a few more members of the ever-growing cast.  In these chapters some things are set into motion that have profound effect on the rest of the series.

And don't forget, this is a reread, there is a very good chance that the post will contain spoilers for future books.  So if you don't want any mysteries prematurely solved, or to find out who will wind up dead, don't read this and read the damn books!

So what are we waiting for?


EDDARD

Summary

King Robert and his entourage arrive at Winterfell.  Ned recognized many of the riders in the party, including Ser Jaime Lannister with his bright golden hair, Sandor Clegane with his burned face, and the Imp - Tyrion Lannister.  However, there was one man Ned did not recognize.  The man at the head of the column, King Robert Baratheon himself.

Ned remembered Robert as he was when Ned last saw him, nine years prior.  Robert was six and a half feet tall, clean shaven, and muscular.  He wielded a spiked iron warhammer that Ned could not even lift.  Now Robert was covered in perfume, had a thick unruly black beard that did little to hide his double chin, and gained a lot of weight.  Ned remembered when he last saw Robert, when they quelled Balon Greyjoy's rebellion.  When Robert accepted his surrender, and Ned took his heir - Theon Greyjoy - as his ward.

Robert grabbed Ned in a crushing hug.  As he set Ned back down, the rest of the retinue entered, including Queen Cersei and the royal children.  Catelyn brought her own children up so introductions could be made.

No sooner had those formalities of greeting been completed than the king had said to his host, "Take me down to your crypt, Eddard.  I would pay my respects."

Ned loved him for that, for remembering her still after all these years.

 The queen began to protest, but Jaime - the queen's twin brother - took her quietly by the arm and led her away.  Ned and Robert then descended into the crypts, and made small talk about the king's journey.  Ned remained formal and polite, while Robert complained about the journey through the North.  Robert ruled the Seven Kingdoms, but the North ruled by the Starks was just as big as the other six combined.  However the North was sparsely populated, and covered in snow even though it was still summer.  Robert regaled Eddard of stories of the south, the warm weather, the flowers, and of course the women.  By this time, the two men had reached the bottom of the stairs and were in the crypt.

The crypt was lined on all the walls with all the past Lords of Winterfell, with their likeness carved on the stones sealing their tombs, a sword across their lap, and a stone direwolf curled at their feet.  Once they walked a ways down the hall, Eddard stopped.  Robert knelt and bowed his head.  There were three tombs, with Ned's father - Lord Rickard Stark - in the front.  Two smaller sepulchers on either side were for Lord Rickard's children.

Brandon had been twenty when he died, strangled by order of the Mad King Aerys Targaryen only a few short days before he was to wed Catelyn Tully of Riverrun.  His father had been forced to watch him die.  He was the true heir, the eldest, born to rule.

 Lyanna had only been sixteen, a child-woman of surpassing loveliness.  Ned had loved her with all his heart.  Robert had loved her even more.  She was to have been his bride.

 Robert is upset at her surroundings, and thinks she should have been buried outside, on a hill under a tree.  Not locked away undeground in the cold.  Ned was there when she died, he tells Robert, and before she died she told Ned she wanted to come home.

He could still hear her at times.  Promise me, she had cried, in a room that smelled of blood and roses.  Promise me, Ned.  The fever had taken her strength and her voice had been faint as a whisper, but when he gave her his word, the fear had gone out of his sister's eyes.  Ned remembered the way she had smiled then, how tightly her fingers had clutched his as she gave up her hold on life, the rose petals spilling from her palm, dead and black.  After that he remembered nothing.  They had found him still holding her body, silent with grief.  The little crannogman, Howland Reed, had taken her hand from his.  Ned could recall none of it.

 Robert tells Ned that he vowed to kill Rhaegar for what he did to her.  "You did," Ned reminded him.  Ned recalled how Robert, in his prime with his great antlered helm, battled the Targaryen prince at the ford of the Trident, and how Robert caved Rhaegar's chest in with his great hammer.

As Robert and Eddard returned from the crypts, they discussed their friend Jon Arryn.  Robert tells Ned how he had become sick so quickly, and there was nothing the Maesters could do.  Jon Arryn was the Hand of the King, the second most powerful man in the kingdom.  It was often said what the King dreams, the Hand builds.  The lowborn also had a saying, the King eats and the Hand takes the shit.  Robert reveals the true reason for his visit - he wishes Eddard to travel south with him and become the new Hand of the King.  Ned expected this, but tells Robert he must discuss it with his wife.  Robert then makes an offer that Ned did not expect - for Robert's eldest son to wed Sansa, and unite the Starks and the Baratheons for all time.

My Thoughts

As seems often in these earlier chapters, I find myself more interested at the hints of the past than I am of the current goings-on.  The Mad King Aerys had Ned's elder brother killed in front of his father.  Ned's sister had died under mysterious circumstances (blood and flowers) and Rhaegar - the Targaryen prince - was somehow responsible (according to Robert).  Ned's elder brother was actually betrothed to Catelyn, Ned only marrying her after his brother was killed.

Now this is the start of what is pretty much THE biggest theory of Game of Thrones - ah hell of the entire series.  I don't want to get into the whole thing just yet, but we'll discuss Lyanna's death, and what exactly what she wanted Ned to promise, in a future post.

And the plot keeps moving.  There was a lot of discussion between Ned and Robert about the current politics of the realm, including mentions of Tywin Lannister and Ned's desire for Robert to see the Wall.  I think all of that stuff will be brought up later, and these summaries are getting too long as it is.  I need to learn some brevity!  Anyway, Sansa will marry the crown prince, and eventually become the Queen of the Realm.  And Ned will become the Hand and rule the kingdom with a strong sense of justice, and they will all live happily ever after.

Yeah, right.

JON

Summary

The Great Hall of Winterfell was filled with people, and smoke, and smells of food, as the welcoming feast entered its fourth hour.  Jon's brothers and sisters had been seated on the raised platform with the royal children, but Jon Snow, a bastard, sat with the commonfolk and was getting good and drunk.  Jon was forced to sit and watch the procession, as his brothers and sisters walked past him to be seated at the front of the room.  Jon was disappointed with the king, picturing a great warrior from his father's stories.  Instead he saw only a fat, drunk man.  Jon also noticed the royal children, Princess Myrcella, Prince Tommen, and the heir to the Kingdom Pronce Joffrey.  All three children had their mother's golden blonde hair.

Jon was intrigued by the queen's brothers - the Lannisters of Casterly Rock; the Lion and the Imp.  Ser Jaime Lannister was twin to Queen Cersei, he was known as the Lion of Lannister to his face, and "Kingslayer" behind hsi back.  Jaime cut an imposing figure, and Jon thought that he is what a king should look like.  Tyrion looked the opposite of Jaime and Cersei.  As beautiful as they were, was how ugly Tyrion was.

He was a dwarf, half his brother's height, struggling to keep pace on stunted legs.  His head was too large for his body, with a brute's squashed-in face beneath a swollen shelf of brow.  One green eye and one black one peered out from under a lank fall of hair so blond it seemed white.

 As Jon continued to eat (and drink) he thought of his luck, as unlike his siblings, he was able to sneak his direwolf pup underneath the table.  He fed Ghost scraps under the table.  At one point a large dog came over to steal some of Ghost's food, but Ghost - not making a sound - bared his teeth and the other dog backed away.

Jon's uncle Benjen Stark came over to the table to sit with him.  Ben was a member of the Night's Watch, and dressed all in black.  They discuss Ghost, and Ben tells stories of direwolves beyond the Wall.  Jon and Ben discuss the night's proceedings, and they both notice Eddard does not seem festive.  Jon also mentions the queen is not happy either, stemming from Robert's trip to the crypt.  Ben is impressed with Jon, noting he doesn't miss much.  Jon takes this as an opening to ask Benjen to take Jon back to the Wall with him, so Jon could join the Night's Watch.

Ben wants Jon to wait a few years before making such a big decision.  Joining the Night's Watch is for life, and you can never wed nor father a child.  You are married to your duty.  Jon, only fourteen, has yet to experience a woman's touch, and Ben wants him to know what he'd be missing before he gave it up.

"Come back to me after you've fathered a few bastards of your own, and we'll see how you feel."

Jon trembled. "I will never father a bastard," he said carefully.  "Never!" He spat it out like venom.

The rest of the room noticed Jon's outburst and fell silent.  Jon felt tears begin to form, and ran out of the room before he embarrassed himself further.  He ran out of the Hall and into the yard, Ghost following at his heel.  As he was trying to collect himself, he heard someone call for him.  He turned and saw Tyrion Lannister, sitting on the ledge above the door to the Great Hall.  Tyrion is intrigued by Ghost, and asks permission for Jon to take a closer look.  Jon offers to help Tyrion down off the ledge.

"Oh, bleed that," the little man said.  He pushed himself off the ledge into empty air.  Jon gasped, then watched with awe as Tyrion Lannister spun around in a tight ball, landed lightly on his hands, then vaulted backward onto his legs.

Ghost did not like Tyrion at first, but at Jon's command allowed Tyrion to pet him.  Tyrion called Jon the bastard, which put Jon on the defensive.  Tyrion gave Jon some counsel, and informed him that all dwarfs are bastards in their father's eyes.  Tyrion's mother, in fact, had died giving birth to him - something his father never forgave.  Tyrion told Jon:

"Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not.  Make it your strength.  Then it can never be your weakness.  Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you."

And with that, Tyrion rejoined the banquet.

My Thoughts

First off, what the hell was that Tyrion did???   I haven't read the series in several years, but I'm pretty sure that the tumbler move that Tyrion pulled off is something he will never do again.  I remember lots of talk of twisted, useless legs.  Ah well, we shall see.

Regardless of Tyrion's acrobatics, Tyrion was very cool in this chapter.  You can easily see Jon Snow's pain, being excluded from his family through no fault of his own.  His animosity towards the word bastard.  For some reason he can't imagine, his father sired a bastard, and Catelyn will never let him truly be part of the family.  Forced to take the name "Snow" instead of being a "Stark."  Man, living in Westeros had to suck.  If you weren't born to nobility (married nobility) you were pretty screwed.  Anyway, Tyrion's words to Jon were helpful, and as devious as Tyrion can be I believe he was truly trying to be helpful to Jon here.

We finally meet Benjen, and if memory serves right we may get one or more appearances from him before he disappears for a long, long time.

We also get our first full description of the children.  They all look remarkably like Cersei, and by extension her twin brother Jaime.  Not much of Robert's "coarse black hair," they are all golden blonde.  I wonder if that will be significant?

And another point to mention now, is Jon's parentage.  Lord Eddard is his father, but from what we know of Ned - does he seem the type to have a son out of wedlock?  I mentioned it now, but this is another thing to be discussed in a future post!