A Game of Thrones Reread - Part 7

And we are moving right along! In todays reread we will spend most of our time traveling. We've got Eddard & company heading south, and Tyrion & company heading north. We'll get to see more of the relationship between Eddard and his king, and learn more about the ever interesting Tyrion, who may be the most complex character in this series (and that's saying something).

Well that's enough of telling you what you're going to read, why not just get to it? As always, possible spoilers for all the books through A Feast for Crows below, so be warned!

EDDARD

Summary

Ned was summoned by the king early, before dawn. Robert informs him that they must talk, but not in the camp as it is "full of ears." Robert galloped out of the camp, and it was all Ned could do to keep up with him. They were miles away from the camp by the time Robert pulled up, and the sun was rising. The ride exhilirated Robert, who gushed at being able to ride free and leave the camp behind. He tells Ned to picture it, the two of them could just leave and be vagabond knights, earning their living with their swords. Ned tells him we have duties, to the realm, to their children, to their wives.

Robert chides Ned for never truly being a boy, as he was always so serious. But Robert remembers one time, when Ned had a thing with the serving girl and sired a bastard. He tries to remember her name when Ned interrupts him:

"Her name was Wylla," Ned replied with cool courtesy, "and I would sooner not speak of her."

Robert continued the discussion, but Ned got angry and rebuked Robert. Finally Robert relented, seeing how strongly it affected Ned. Robert then turned to more important matters. He had received a message in the night from Lord Varys in King's Landing. Varys was a eunuch, and the king's mater of whisperers - he served Robert as he once served Aerys Targaryen. Ned viewed the letter, expecting it to concern Lysa's accusation against the Lannisters, but he was wrong. The message originated with Ser Jorah Mormont.

Ned remembers Ser Jorah. The Mormonts were an old house, existing in the north. Ser Jorah had tried to increase his worth by selling poachers to Tyroshi slavers. Ned had taken Ice and traveled to mete out punishment, only to find Ser Jorah had fled beyond the reach of the king's justice to the free cities. That was five years ago. Ser Jorah is now spying on the surviving Targaryens with the hope of earning a royal pardon, and in this capacity informed the king of Daenerys' wedding to Khal Drogo. While this news did not overly concern Ned, Robert says that he should have had the girl killed when he had a better opportunity.

Ned did not feign surprise; Robert's hatred of the Targaryens was a madness in him. He remembered the angry words they had exchanged when Tywin Lannister had presented Robert with the corpses of Rhaegar's wife and children as a token of fealty. Ned had named that murder; Robert called it war. When he had protested that the young prince and princess were no more than babes, his new-made king had replied, "I see no babes, only dragonspawn."

 Ned and Robert didn't speak again, until their shared grief over Lyanna's death reunited them. Still, Ned pressed Robert saying they couldn't kill children. Robert exploded, saying he will kill every Targaryen he can. Robert is more concerned with the potential for an attack on the kingdoms by a Dothraki army. Ned tells Robert the horse-lords have no love for the sea. Robert tells Ned he has chosen Jaime Lannister as the Warden of the East, instead of allowing the title to pass to Jon Arryn's son. Ned dislikes Jaime, and argues this puts the military of half the kingdom in the hands of the Lannisters, as Tywin Lannister was the Warden of the West.

Ned voices his distrust of Jaime, and the Lannisters in general. After Robert defeated Rhaegar at the Trident, Robert took a wound and Ned reaching King's Landing without him. When he arrived there he found the gates already open. Tywin Lannister, Aerys' Hand, had arrived at King's Landing. Thinking him an ally, Aerys ordered the gates open. Instead, Tywin brought treachery and took the city. Jaime, who had sworn to protect him, had killed Aerys himself. Ned found Jaime sitting on the Iron Throne. Robert did not share Ned's concerns, and they rode back to camp.

My Thoughts

This was one of those "calm before the storm" chapters. Two old friends go out for a ride, and talk amongst themselves. Not much happened to move the plot forward this chapter - Robert and Ned found out about Dany's wedding to Drogo, we discovered Jorah was a spy - but we get a lot of gaps filled in. Not the least of which is the actual relationship between Ned and Robert. They were closer than brothers once, but nine years apart, and Robert being a king, it's plain to see they are not the same people they once were. And yet, it is also clear that they are comfortable with each other. They can say things to each other that nobody else would. Can you imagine anyone else getting away with talking to Ned about his bastard son like that?

Speaking of which, we also get the mention of "Wylla," who Ned says is Jon's mother. Of course, none of us believe that, right? Should I get into who Jon's parents are yet? Of course, we don't KNOW who his parents are, but I think we have a pretty good idea. We'll have to wait for someone to meet up with Howland Reed to find out for sure.  But why would Ned lie to Robert about who Jon's mother was?

We also see Robert's intense, irrational hatred for the Targaryens.  Well... maybe not irrational. He is the king, and he does need to protect the throne, and Dany and Viserys are obviously threats. This is where the point of views are really effective, because clearly Ned thinks it's a terrible and immoral thing to kill children. But Dany is 13 and Viserys is older, in this world are they still really children? And them now being tied to a large and powerful army? Robert probably should have had them killed by now.

We also get more and more pieces filled in about Robert's rebellion of fifteen years ago. The Lannisters involvement, and what Ned and Robert were up to. It's funny, it actually seems like the typical fantasy story was theirs. The Mad King sitting on a throne in a room lined with the skulls of dragons. The Mad King killed Ned's father and brother. Ned, Robert, and Jon Arryn join forces to depose the King and free the kingdom. Ned defeats Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. Ned had Ice, Ser Arthur had Dawn, an epic battle with their magic blades. Robert facing off with the Mad King's Prince in the Trident, defeating him with his massive warhammer. I definitely think this was all intentional on GRRM's part - we actually missed the great fantasy story. Now we are dealing with the aftermath, and the next generation.  OK, I might be rambling a little, let's see what Tyrion is up to.

TYRION

Summary

Tyrion had studied maps, but the was still not prepared for how big the north was, nor how cold. There were eight in the party, Tyrion and his two men, Benjen and Jon Snow, and three men they met up with on the road. Yoren was a member of the Night's Watch, stooped back with a black beard and dirty clothes. Yoren had two beggars with him - rapers that had chosen to go to the Wall rather than be castrated. Tyrion could see that Jon Snow was beginning to become disillusioned in his decision to join the Watch.

Benjen shared Eddard's dislike of the Lannisters, and made sure Tyrion knew his distaste. It was the eighteenth day of their journey, and the troupe stopped to make camp. Tyrion wasn't much of a help, so he wandered off to read a book he borrowed from the Stark library - with Eddard Stark's permission. Tyrion was reading a book on dragons, listing the properties of dragonbone. Dragonbone is black, strong as steel although lighter, and flexible. Tyrion was always fascinated by dragons, and made a point to view the dragon skulls in King's Landing when he traveled there for his sister's wedding. There were nineteen skulls, from the three that Aegon the Conqueror rode with to Westeros, down to the most recent. The oldest dragon skulls were huge, with each subsequent generation smaller down to the most recent - very small and deformed. Tyrion remembered a story of his ancestor, King Loren Lannister, standing against Aegon the Conqueror, with thousands of men. They seemed to be winning the battle, until Aegon joined the battle with his sisters, all astride their three great dragons. The three dragons destroyed the army, as part of Aegon's conquest.

Near four thousand men had burned that day, among them King Mern of the Reach. King Loren had escaped, and lived long enough to surrender, pledge his fealty to the Targaryens, and beget a son, for which Tyrion was duly grateful.

Tyrion was startled to hear Jon Snow address him, asking why he read so much. Tyrion had not heard him approach.  Jon asks Tyrion why he reads. Tyrion tells him that he is a dwarf, a pathetic physical specimen, but he has the power of his mind. And like a knight sharpens his sword, Tyrion must sharpen his mind, but where a knight uses a whetstone, Tyrion uses books. Tyrion then begins to goad Jon, insulting the Night's Watch and laughing when Jon calls it a "noble calling." Tyrion was on a roll, and told Jon the Watch was made up of nothing but murderers, rapers, and thieves, living in the cold so long your balls froze off. Jon was very angry, and Tyrion, feeling contrite, approached Jon with his arm out, meaning to give him a reassuring pat. Ghost came out of nowhere and tackled him, pinning Tyrion to the ground. Jon made Tyrion ask nicely before Jon recalled his direwolf. Tyrion then shared his wine, and the two of them walked back to camp.

My Thoughts

I'm actually having a hard time coming up with things to discuss about this chapter. From a first-read perspective, you get your first glimpse at what the Night's Watch really is. It's not a noble pursuit, it's pretty much the alternative to the death sentence. You're a criminal? Beheading or life at the Wall?  And the fact that not everyone automatically chooses the Wall should tell you something!

We do get a bit of a history of dragons, which is particularly relevant after Dany's wedding gift. But even that, what do we know? Dragons used to be bigger, but got smaller and died out. The bones aren't affected by fire. Cool stuff, but no real gamechangers.

I do really enjoy reading Tyrion chapters. He is a complicated character, and even though we don't know whether he's good or bad (I think four books in I still don't know if he's "good" or "bad") but he is damn entertaining, and you can't help but pull for him at least a little. And I really enjoy the camaraderie that he seems to develop with Jon. Hopefully one day they'll run into each other again.


That's all I got. What did everyone else think?