Promise Me, Ned

Given that all of us are probably R+L=J believers, if not zealots, I feel safe in saying that, re-reading this chapter, we probably fixated on the characters' implied relationship to Lyanna.

So what do we have? To see her crypt is Robert's first wish, and it inspires in Cersei what might be seen as jealousy (though I doubt this, given the insight we get later into her feelings about Robert - perhaps she is trying to control his foolish behavior here? It is a pretty absurd thing for a king to do in this public occasion).

"Ned loved him for that." So whatever else Ned thinks about Robert's obsession with his sister, he appreciates it as something genuine and doesn't scorn it. But Ned is reticent in the rest of the conversation, or silent. He certainly doesn't openly share in Robert's continued hatred of Rhaegar, one hint that he knows more about that dead prince than he's letting on. And this chapter is the first appearance of "promise me" - here it implies she was begging to buried at Winterfell, though it's perfectly plausible to doubt this. I don't think this chapter is heavy with foreshadowing of Lyanna's story, and certainly not with clues, but it's the first thing that came to my attention while reading.

There's more going on than just clues for a theory, though. Throughout the chapter, Ned notes, and Robert demonstrates, the degree to which the king has gone to seed; it's a sign of the state of the kingdom: In thrall to Lannister wealth; grown weak and sloppy and corrupt; incapable of withstanding the pressures on it.

This being an epic fantasy novel, it would be too much to expect political strife or civil war not to be looming, but here there are only signs of it - Ned's mistrust of Tywin; the mention of a rebellion nine years previous, from which Ned still holds a hostage; the surprise offers-that-can't-be-refused of a promotion to king's regent and of a Baratheon-Stark marriage alliance; the tension between Cersei and Robert (and by extension, their houses); and Robert's total disinclination to deal with the demands of ruling a fragile new dynasty. Having read the series, I know how ominous each of these mentions are, but none of the characters seem to have any notion of how badly things are about to go wrong.

The characters of Ned and Robert seem incompatible as close friends, as well. Ned is solemn and stark, if you will; Robert is sanguine and apparently a buffoon. Both, we'll learn, are completely unprepared for the game of thrones, though for wholly different reasons. I wonder if their youthful friendship did not resemble Robert's character more than Ned's current one - behind the rigid, honorable face of Lord Stark could be a well-hidden past full of drinking, whoring and carefree hedonism. It's certainly conceivable, but it's also possible their differing personalities have always been so. If Ned was more like Robert in his younger days, it's easier to imagine him fathering a bastard. Although I believe R+L=J, I never bought the argument that said Ned's current emphasis on honor means it's too hard to believe Jon would be his son - it could just as well be that Jon's existence led him to become so conspicuously scrupulous.

Our Way is the Older Way

The morning dawns and the air is crisp and smells of fall. Now, quickly, follow the horses, we're on the way to a beheading. 

George R.R. Martin introduces us to Westeros and the Starks of Winterfell in the midst of a procession on their way to see a man beheaded. So, if the prologue wasn’t enough of an indication, the reader should now be aware that this book doesn’t end with hobbits, dwarves and wizards sitting for a meal.

The chapter is told through the point of view of Bran Stark, second youngest of the Stark children, who at the age of seven has finally been ruled old enough to see his father, Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, “deliver the King’s justice.” Bran assumes that the condemned man must be a wildling based on his eldest brothers rumors; a man serving Mance Rayder, the-King-beyond-the-Wall. We learn that wildlings are a sort of boogie man to the children of Westeros, lawless people living beyond the Wall, cruel and criminal.

At the execution we meet Robb Stark, the eldest Stark child and heir to Winterfell and Jon Snow, the Stark bastard of an age with Robb. We are also introduced to Theon Greyjoy, Eddard’s ward, and several of the Stark servants and laborers.

The condemned man is not a wildling. Based on his description we, the readers, recognize Gared, the old ranger of the Night’s Watch from the prologue. It appears that he survived the encounter with the Others only to be killed as a deserter in Winterfell.

His death marks the death of the only living person in Westeros, that we are aware of, who may know for a fact that the Others are real and active. Does he manage to deliver a warning to Eddard Stark before he dies? We don’t know as Bran does not remember what questions and answers preceded his death. We know he may have been too far gone to make sense based on Jon Snow’s observation that his eyes looked like those of one already dead from fear.

On the ride back to Winterfell, Ned has a side conversation with Bran which grants us the first look into his character. First, Bran asks him about the debate Jon and Robb were having about whether the man died bravely. Bran asks his father if one can be brave if they are afraid to which Ned replies that that is the only time one can truly be brave. Ned also explains to Bran why he had to personally deliver the sentence.

Bran’s initial nervous excitement on the way to the execution suggests that death is rather commonplace and cheap in Westeros. Ned explains that the Starks keep to the old ways and that the one who ordered justice be done must be the one to deliver it, lest he forget what sentencing a man to death means. Here we see that Ned is a ruler who is steadfast in his ways and in keeping with tradition and we get a glimpse of his sense of honor.

The most important event in the chapter is, of course, the discovery of the dead direwolf and the Stark children’s adoption of her litter of pups. A defining moment for all of the children that will carry weight throughout the series.

The symbolism of the direwolf pup’s is pretty obvious, and basically explained in the text by Jon Snow. There is a pup of the right gender for each of the Stark children, including the outcast runt of the litter that Jon finds at the last second, and the direwolf is their house sigil.

The other hinted at symbolism comes from the manner in which the mother died, she choked on the horns of a stag. The stag is the sigil of House Baratheon to which Ned’s old friend and current King, Robert, belongs. The direwolf choking on the stag it tried to kill is an inauspicious omen at best. The other fact, that all of the characters seem to overlook, is that the wolf pup’s who fate has deemed represent the Stark children have been orphaned by fate.

In introducing us to Winterfell through Bran, Martin has used the freshest eyes available. The first time Bran sees his father behead a man is the first time we see his father. When Ned opens up to Bran to explain concepts of bravery and honor Martin is opening his character up to us. We first hear of the wildlings through Bran’s memories of an old woman’s stories, ones that meet the expectations of a typical fantasy reader. But those stories are somewhat shattered by the bleak reality of the matter and by Ned’s very human explanation of things.

This is a world of honor and blood and death and like Bran we have just begun to learn that.