A Game of Thrones Reread - Part 4

Welcome back to another installment of your daily Song of Ice and Fire reread!  In today's reread plots will thicken, and everyone will share Arya's hatred for needlework.  The events are moving along nicely, but the shit hasn't hit the fan just yet.

Remember, this is a reread, so beware potential spoilers for all four currently published books.  Now, let's see what Catelyn is up to.


CATELYN

Summary

Of all the rooms in Winterfell, Catelyn's was the hottest.  The castle was built over natural hot springs, and the heated waters were pumped through the wall's of the castle.  In the summer this was a little thing, but in winter it was the difference between life and death.  The heat reminded Catelyn of her childhood in Riverrun, but Ned didn't like the heat.  The Starks were made for the cold, he often said.  So when they were finished, Ned got out of bed and opened all the windows in the room, to feel the cold on his nakedness.  Catelyn pulled the covers to the chin and hoped Ned's seed would take, she hoped to give him another son.

Ned began speaking, stating his intent to refuse Robert's offer to make him Hand. Catelyn argues against it, and says the King will see it as an insult.  She tries to make Ned see that he can't think of Robert as the man he knew, the man that was closer to him than a brother, Ned must see Robert as the King who would be offended if Ned were to refuse.  All the while, in the back of Catelyn's mind is the direwolf with the antler in its throat. Catelyn also sees it as a great honor that Sansa would wed the prince.  Catelyn's daughter could one day be queen of the realm.  Ned argues that Sansa is only eleven, and when Catelyn points out that she was twelve when she was betrothed to Ned's brother Brandon, Ned gets even more angry.

Catelyn softened then, to see his pain. Eddard Stark had married her in Brandon's place, as custom decreed, but the shadow of his dead brother still lay between them, as did the other, the shadow of the woman he would not name, the woman who had borne him his bastard son.

Catelyn and Ned were interrupted by a knock at the door.  Maester Luwin was shown in, and informed the couple that he had been sent a message. Ned wanted to know why he wasn't told of a rider, but Maester Luwin informed him that a wooden box was left in his apartments - it must have been left there by a member of the king's party. The box contained a lens from the observatory. Catelyn deduced that a lens in an instrument to help you see clearly.  Maester Luwin concurred, and revealed a message found in a false bottom of the box. The message was addressed to Catelyn.

The message was in a coded language, known only to Catelyn and her sister Lysa. Catelyn got out of bed and began to build a fire in the hearth, unmindful of her nakedness. She tossed the letter into the fire. Ned's patience ran out and he demanded to know what the message said. According to Lysa's message Jon Arryn was murdered - by the Lannisters, by the queen. Now it was clear, Ned must become Robert's Hand, so that he may learn the truth. Catelyn could see that Ned was still working it out for himself.

"My father went south once, to answer the summons of a king. He never came home again."

 Maester Luwin tells them that this is a different time, and a different king. Ned realizes he must go, but tells Catelyn she must remain in Winterfell.

His words were like an icy draft through her heart. "No," she said, suddenly afraid. Was this to be her punishment? Never to see his face again, nor to feel his arms around her?

Ned tells her that there must always be a Stark in Winterfell. Robb is still too young, so she must remain with Maester Luwin to be Robb's advisors until he is old enough. Ned tells Catelyn that Rickon is too young, so he too will remain, but the other children will travel south with him. Catelyn knows that Sansa, as Prince Joffrey's betrothed, must go, and that Arya could use refinement from the southern courts, but she cannot bare to lose Bran. Ned knew that Bran must go too, to befriend the princes and tie their family more closely with the royal family.

Maester Luwin then asked about Jon Snow. Catelyn's anger rose. She could forgive Ned for fathering bastards, and for providing for any bastards he may have. Ned, honorable Ned, did not do just that. Ned brought his bastard home with him, and called him "son" for anyone to see. Catelyn had asked Ned for the truth of Jon's mother only once, and that was the only time Ned had ever frightened her.

"Never ask me about Jon," he said, cold as ice. "He is my blood, and that is all you need to know."

... 

Whoever Jon's mother had been, Ned must have loved  her fiercely, for nothing Catelyn said would persuade him to send the boy away. It was the one thing she could never forgive him. She had come to love her husband with all her heart, but she had never found it in her to love Jon. She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned's sake, so long as they were out of sign. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him. Somehow that made it worse. "Jon must go," she said now.

Ned wanted Jon to stay in Winterfell, as a bastard would have no place at King's Landing. Before an argument could break out, Maester Luwin intruded, informing Catelyn and Ned that Jon has expressed an interest in the Night's Watch.  After some discussion it was agreed, despite his youth Jon would take the black.

My Thoughts

For a scene where a couple of naked people and an old wise man stand in a room and talk, a lot happened in this chapter. We learn that all is not as it seems with the death of Jon Arryn. We had already discovered, from Robert, that Jon's death was sudden and unexpected. And now we have someone to point the finger at, the queen and her brothers! I've been playing coy with this, as any of you reading this will already know the circumstances as Jon's death, but I think it will be more fun to follow the characters as they try to figure it out. Right away we see that the possibility of the Lannisters being the culprits doesn't faze Ned or Cat in the least. They clearly see them as being capable of such a thing.

The other focus of this chapter is the poor bastard - Jon Snow. I could never quite forgive Catelyn's dislike for Jon Snow, and even know reading this year's later it still bothers me. I try to put myself in her position, but it just seems wrong. Should Ned have just given Jon some money and told him good luck? Catelyn needs to get over herself. She doesn't have to love the boy like a son, but the hate that she harbors for him - yeesh.

And of course, this is where we first wonder at Jon's parentage. Anyone that has followed the series for long probably has their own theories, and I have my own as well. I'll tease out that theory each chapter, and if anyone noticed, I've been selecting quotes that are pertinent. At this point, all I'll say is that from what we know of Ned, Mr. Honor himself, does he really seem the type to father a bastard son? But of course, Mr. Honor wouldn't lie either, and he DID say that Jon was his blood and that was all Cat needed to know. Hmmmmmm.

Other than that, we have the decision to allow Jon to take the black, which will set him on the path that he will follow for the next three books. His is the plotline I most look forward to in the forthcoming Dance With Dragons. Jon was my favorite character ever since I first picked these books up, so expect some extra focus on him.

ARYA

Summary

Arya sat in a room with her sister, her sister's friends, and Princess Myrcella, practicing her stitching. Arya hated needlework. She frowned at her crooked stitches, and looked glumly at Sansa, who was chatting with Beth Cassel, and Sansa's best friend, Jeyne Poole. The three were gossiping about Prince Joffrey, discussing how handsome he was, and how he looked at Sansa during the dinner.

"Jon says he looks like a girl," Arya said.

Sansa sighed as she stitched. "Poor Jon," she said. "He gets jealous because he's a bastard."

"He's our brother," Arya said, much too loudly. Her voice cut through the afternoon quiet of the tower room.

 This commotion attracted the attention of the Septa, who came over to inspect their stitches. As the Septa looked at Arya's needlework disapprovingly, Arya felt tears well up in her eyes. Arya then ran from the room, and from the smirking faces of Sansa's friends, and from the look of pity on the princess. As Arya ran from the room, she thought about how nothing was fair. Sansa was older, Sance could sew and dance and sing, she wrote poetry, she knew how to dress, she could play the high harp, and she was beautiful.

Sansa had gotten their mother's fine high cheekbones and the thick auburn hair of the Tullys. Arya took after their lord father. Her hair was a lusterless brown, and her face was long and solemn. Jeyne used to call her Arya Horseface, and neigh whenever she came near. It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. 

At the bottom of the stairs Arya's wolf, Nymeria, was waiting for her. Nymeria loved Arya, and followed her everywhere. The wolf had yellow eyes. Sansa, always proper, had named her wolf "Lady." Arya needed to go somewhere where the Septa, or her mother, wouldn't find her, so she decided to watch the boys practice in the yard. She hoped to see Robb put Prince Joffrey in his place. So Arya ran to the yard, with Nymeria close behind.

Arya found Jon watching the action, seated on the sill looking over the practice grounds. Ghost, already larger than the other wolves, was near Jon. Jon greeted his sister, knowing she should be at her needlework, and invited her to sit next to him. To Arya's disappointment it was only the younger boys fighting. Bran and Prince Tommen, both with so much padding they looked silly. Ser Rodrik Cassel, a large man with "magnificent white cheek whiskers," and the master-at-arms of Winterfell, watched over the fight. Jon and Arya enjoyed a friendly banter, discussing the merits of swordplay over stitching.  Jon and Arya had always been close.

Jon had their father's face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her.

Arya asked why Jon was not down in the yard.  "Bastards are not allowed to damage young princes," he said. One again, Arya thought, life was not fair. Arya changed the subject by saying she could fight as well as Bran. Jon told her that she was too skinny, and that she didn't have the muscle to lift a longsword, let alone swing one.

Jon then pointed out Prince Joffrey to Arya, making note of the arms on his surcoat. One side of his arms was the crowned stag of the royal House, and on the other side the lion of Lannister. He shows the pride of the Lannisters, by making their house equal to that of the royal sigil.  By this time Bran and Tommen had ended their fight, with Tommen on his back and unable to stand up - because of the padding - making Bran the de facto winner.

Ser Rorik asked if Robb and Joffrey were ready for another round. Joffrey scoffed, and said the fight was for children, that he would not fight with a play sword. Theon Greyjoy, Ned's ward, laughed and told them they were children. Joffrey mocked Robb, leading to laughs from the Lannister men.

Jon looked down on the scene with a frown. "Joffrey is truly a little shit," he told Arya

Robb was ready to meet Joffrey with live steel, but Ser Rodrik would not allow it. A tall man with blakc hair and burn scars on his face rebuffed Ser Rodrik, asking who was he to deny his Prince. Ser Rodrik told Sandor Clegane that he was master-at-arms, and he should not forget it. This led to a heated exchange between Joffrey and Robb, with Theon forced to hold Robb back.

Now that the show was over, Jon told Arya to head back before she was in too much trouble. Arya returned to her room with Nymeria, and was faced with the Septa AND her mother.

My Thoughts

An Arya chapter! Finally! Arya is a great character, and may actually change the most out of any of the point of view characters. Well, Catelyn/Lady Stoneheart aside.

This chapter doesn't progress the plot much, but it does allow us to get to know Arya, Sansa, and Jon a little more. Sansa is the perfect child, born to live in a court, but knows nothing of life outside the castle. Arya is more street smart, which she was forced to be after growing up in her sister's shadow.

I like how close Arya and Jon are, and you truly get the feeling of him as her 'big brother.' A relationship he clearly does not have with Sansa. To Arya, Jon is her brother - not a half brother, and she thinks no less of him. It is also interesting to note that Arya looks the most like a Stark out of all of her siblings - except Jon. For the forthcoming theory on Jon's lineage, the fact that he most resembles Arya will be an integral part. Could I be more vague? Do most of you know what I'm getting at anyway?

We also have more proof that the Lannisters = no good.  You said it Jon, Joffrey is truly a little shit.

Two other quick points. Ghost is already the largest of the direwolves, which is awesome. A pure white direwolf, the biggest of his litter, and completely silent. Just another element of Jon's persona, as a future B.A.M.F.  And I loved all the references to Arya's hatred of needlework. Oh Arya, you won't hate needlework for long!

And that's all she wrote for tonight, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be back again soon, same Bat-Time, same Bat-channel.