Hot bread, honey, butter and blackberry preserves

This chapter is probably the beginning of many readers' dislike of Catelyn. She spends much of it acting irrationally, and it's easy for a reader to judge. But it's a pretty accurate portrayal of her character, and how she embodies House Tully's words. Until her death she's standing by her family; after it, her personality is distilled to a warped form of duty - her obsession with taking revenge for the family she believes to be all lost.

We can already see Littlefinger's machinations in effect here - Catelyn, having been primed with Lysa's accusation against the Lannisters (not to mention the pre-existing mistrust between their houses) immediately assumes they must be responsible for Bran's fall. Her landing on Jaime as a suspect is halfway between being a sharp assessment of available facts, and a lucky guess, thanks to the suspicions that have already been planted - if it weren't for Lysa's letter, would she have been so ready to put the blame on a Lannister?

It all demonstrates how easy Littlefinger's goals are to accomplish, in some ways. He doesn't need to engineer an incident to set in motion the events that will lead to a civil war - he just needs to spread mistrust and enmity however possible, and dumb luck does the rest. This is assuming, of course, that he didn't directly influence Joffrey to send the assassin, which (IIRC) isn't confirmed. At any rate, the fact that his M.O. is to create disorder makes him one of the most dangerous characters in the story - even Varys, his archrival, has a much more precarious position, both in his foreign origin and lack of a title and house that has his back, and in that his plans (whatever they might be) are much more elaborate and can be upset by one of Littlefinger's Joker-like moves.

The biggest thing that bugs me about this chapter is that it highlights how little sense it makes for Robert's entourage to take the lengthy Kingsroad journey up to Winterfell, while Catelyn plans to take a boat and beat them to King's Landing. Are there no fleets capable of holding Robert and his party? Obviously in this case, characters are moving at the speed the plot requires them to, but just like the mushy sense of distances that crops up more than once in GRRM's writing, this detracts somewhat from the ability to suspend belief. My belief, anyway.

The title of this post is because I couldn't think of a better one, and I was hungry. So the paragraph describing her meal became the chapter's most memorable feature...

Little Ironies - Tyrion II

To to north we go!

Initially we are with only Tyrion, Benjen Stark and Jon Snow. They split from the royal procession out of Winterfell and headed north where the procession went south. Later though, they meet up with Yoren, a brother of the night's watch, and two boy recruits.  The boys are reported to be rapers, which dampens Jon Snow's perception of the Brotherhood being an honorable calling. This leads to tension between Jon and Tyrion, but then they joke about it later and seemingly get along fine.

In the beginning of the chapter, while heading through the tough northern terrain, Tyrion remarks about how the map was one thing and the land quite another.  This is funny because of GRRM's notoriously bad estmations of distances, height, age, and also book release dates. It is, however, an accurate representation of cartography at this point in their fictional history - things aren't exactly as they are presented on paper. Nothing is to scale in ASOIAF, even invidual's representations of events, because everyone is an unreliable narrator.

Tyrion seems to take offense in how he's being treated by Benjen and Yoren during the ride north, thinking that they share a distace for Lannisters just as Ned does. I'm not sure if this is actually the case, or whether they are just hard men and do not spoil Tyrion like he's used to as the Queens brother. I don't see Jon being treated differently.

This is also the chapter in which we discover that Tyrion is a book worm. He says "a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge" in response to Jon asking why he reads so much. This sums up Tyrions character throughout the series, He doesn't have any physical advantages, so his wit and wisdom is what keeps him alive through the game of thrones.

The book that he happens to be reading is about dragon bones. He says that the Dothraki use them incrafting  bows. They are said to be strong as steel yet lighter and more flexible. More, they're impervious to fire. It'd be interesting to see dragon bone used in other weapons/armor. Perhaps a dragon bone suit of armor or shield can be useful in flying and/or fighting dragons. Perhaps a melee weapon can be used to defeat the Others (lightbringer anyone?). I wonder if dragon bone is the same as obsidian like the daggers that Sam finds, and uses, to become the slayer. 

He then goes on to tell Jon about his fascination with dragons since he was young (probably fueling all the Tyrion = secret Targ theories, which I hate). He reminisces about the last of the Targaryen dragons, and wonders if they were the last dragons everywhere (I think not, but we'll talk about that in a later chapter).

He thinks about the Field of Fire, which was a catastrophic loss for the Seven Kingdoms against Aegon Targaryen. In a shock and awe campaign, Aegon and his two sisters use their dragons against the forces of Mern of the Reach and Loren of the Rock, killing thousands. King Mern dies as well, but king Loren is spared and bends the knee. Amusingly, Tyrion is grateful for this as he would not have been born, and Tywin would not have had the chance to almost exterminate the Targaryens. 

There is a strange moment towards the end where Jon loses his temper. Tyrion suggests that Jon imagines his mother and  sister being harmed/burning just as he does. Jon gets very defensive and loud until Ghost attacks Tyrion when he gets too close. When Tyrion asks for a helping hand in getting up from the ground, Jon says "ask me nicely" almost sadistically, like he enjoys the power over Tyrion. It's most likely from the events that transpired before this, but it seems strange to me that he would act like that, especially becoming so defensive. This strange event seems to bond them though, as they get along and joke with each other afterward.

He had never been a patient man, Robert Baratheon- Eddard II

This chapter opens with Robert Baratheon acting only as Robert Baratheon can, rude, reckless, and impractically. On the first few times through, it is hard to see how terrible King Robert is, as he is consistently shown through the eyes of Ned Stark, his oldest friend and near brother. Robert wakes Ned in the early morning, and then proceeds to, without his Kingsguard, take off on a long gallop. Robert takes a lot of secretive precautions to ensure that he and Ned won't be heard...or even recognized.

Ned and Robert proceed to have a conversation that shows the format for their future dealings, Ned advises Robert of prudent, practical moves, and Robert ignores him entirely.

The first conflict is over Daenerys' marriage to Khal Drogo. Robert wants to send assassins after the Targaryens, Ned says no.

The second conflict is over who to appoint as Warden of the East. Ned favors choosing Robert Arryn, or failing that, Stannis or Renly. Robert says no, he wants Jaime Lannister.

The third conflict is over Jaime Lannister himself. Ned distrusts Jaime and believes he lacks respect and seriousness. Robert again disagrees.

Ned ends the chapter realizing what a terrible mistake going to King's Landing is.

This chapter serves primarily to serve as insight into the kind of leader Robert is...a poor one. He's stubborn, and while he makes decisions quickly, he doesn't appear to ever be happy with any of them. Take, for example, his decision to leave his Kingsguard Knight behind. We later find out that the knights on the road, Ser Boros and Ser Meryn, are largely useless as bodyguards anyway, but it is very suspect that Robert would have no trust in two men he appointed himself. The chapter also lets us know that the Lannisters have some sort of hold over Robert, a prelude to the Westerosi debt crises we discover in Kings Landing.

All in all, you cannot help but to pity Ned, who has taken on an impossible job working for a man who only remembers being his friend.

No? - Daenerys II

This chapter begins with everyone a little bit on edge.

The free city Pentos and its magisters are on edge because all 40,000 of Drogo’s Khalasar are squatting outside of the city. Viserys is brooding because he has to take a back seat to his sister for the time being. Daenerys is nervous about consummating her wedding night with her big, strong, rough husband. Of course Illyrio is an enigma, but this is a big part of his master plan so he must be a little bit apprehensive about the wedding proceedings. Mormont the spy is also probably curious about what’s going to happen.

Illyrio’s response to Viserys’ impatience about getting his army is an early indication of how he wants things to proceed slowly. As we know later thanks to his discussion with Varys under Kings Landing, he wants to take things slow, but Varys is having trouble juggling many events at once. In response to Viserys asking how long he must wait, Illyrio states, “You have waited most of your life, great king. What is another few months, another few years?”

Mormont tells Viserys that the Dothraki are true to their word but they do things on their own time. Viserys snaps at him and tells him to guard his tongue. He states that he is the “rightful Lord of the Seven Kingdoms” and that “The dragon doesn’t beg”. To this, Mormont bows his head, but Illyrio “smiled enigmatically” and ate sloppily as if disregarding Viserys claims as nothing more than an arrogant child.

If the Dothraki are true to their word, then perhaps Viserys “golden crown” was a part of Illyrio’s plan all along. When talking to Viserys, Illyrio says “I have told you, all is settled. Trust me. The khal has promised you a crown, and you shall have it.” It doesn't seem that far fetched for Illyrio to have plotted this since he shows contempt to Viserys right to his face and seems to understand Viserys’ character.

Then there was the wedding party. “A Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is deemed a dull affair.” Funny, since the red wedding definitely outmatched Dany’s in excitement, the purple wedding was a dull affair and a future wedding might have the same potential as the red wedding.

The wedding gifts are as follows:
Viserys gives Dany the three handmaidens, Irri, Jhiqui, and Doreah. (One each to teach riding, language, love)
Jorah gives her books of history and songs from the Seven Kingdoms
Illyrio gives her the chest that contains the dragon’s eggs from the Shadowlands beyond Asshai.
Haggo gives Dany a leather whip with a silver handle
Cohollo gives her a gold-chased arakh
Qotho gives her a dragonbow
(Per Dothraki custom, she was to refuse these three gifts and hand over to Drogo)
Finally Drogo's gift to Dany is her horse, Silver. Which she gets on, rides through the crowd and, upon approaching a fire-pit, "The silver horse leapt the flames as if she had wings." This is clear foreshadowing of her riding a dragon.

Then it came time to consummate the marriage. She says "No" twice before finally, after being fondled by Drogo a bit and after he asks No?, she says "Yes". Was it rape? No, it wasn’t in the context of the story. Also, we're in her consciousness as readers, and she doesn't react that way.

"What are You doing here?"

Jon II

This chapter is perhaps the penultimate "anti-Cat" chapter. It features our favorite bastard, Jon Snow, seeking a final audience with his comatose brother.

The mood in Winterfell is fairly dark at this time. Bran is lying, comatose and broken in bed. Catelyn has broken, and resorted to living in her son's room. Jon is leaving Winterfell forever, headed to the Night's Watch.

This is a relatively short chapter, and the main takeaways are as follows.

Jon describes Bran as a type of skeleton, a leaf, with bones "like a bird". This, I believe, is meant as a clear allusion to Bran's future as a greenseer, a skeleton sitting on a throne.  We'll get to Bran's future more in Bran's next chapter (to be expertly exegeted by James), but its clear from the many hints in Bran's chapters that his storyline is perhaps the most important in the series.

The second takeaway is Catelyn's speech, about her prayer to the Seven for Bran to stay in Winterfell, by any means possible. There is a lot of talk in the fandom that the Seven "don't have any power", compared to R'hollor, the Old Gods, and the other religions of Martin's world. I think Catelyn's statement is a kind of direct contradiction (among other things, like Lancel Lannister's prophetic visions) of this idea. The Seven do hear prayer, but like the other gods of Westeros (or ancient mythologies) they rarely answer them in the desired fashion.

The chapter ends with a scene the cements Jon's place in the readers heart, Jon Snow gifting Needle to his youngest sister Arya.

"I cannot abide the wailing of women"

Tyrion I

Our favorite halfman enters the series with a bang, or shall we say a slap? Tyrion Lannister, the least respected Lannister by most of Westeros, is known to us already through his conversation with Jon. Presented as "the imp", a drunken layabout who frequents brothels, we find out that Tyrion is in fact a thoughtful, intelligent man who struggles with his place in the world.

We find Tyrion asleep in Winterfell's library, apparently home to several rare books. He awakes to find the Hound and Prince Joffrey outside goading each other on in their impudence. He advises his nephew to talk to Lord and Lady Stark, and is instead insulted and rebuffed. This chapter also serves to give us our first notice that Joffrey truly is a terrible person, not just an obnoxious preteen. Tyrion delivers his world famous (and very portentous) slaps and goes on his way, but not before ignoring the advice of the Hound.

One of the more interesting bits here is the dynamic between Joffrey and the Hound. The Hound clearly recognizes to some extent what Joffrey is. Its why he warns Tyrion about slapping him. However, to some extend, the Hound also encourages this behavior in Joffrey. Did the Hound help create the monster that is Joffrey, or did Joffrey create himself?

Speaking of monsters, of course, the next thing we after Joffrey is Cersei. This is a pretty defining moment for Tyrion. He clearly senses that his siblings had something to do with Bran's fall, and he is cognizant of the fact that they almost certainly threw him to protect their incestuous relationship. Tyrion argues with Cersei about the direwolves, announces he is going to visit the Wall, and then chats with his brother for the last time until the end of Storm of Swords. Jaime tells Tyrion that he's not sure what side his brother is on. As the reader, however, its clear. Tyrion is loyal to House Lannister.

The Things I do for Love - Bran II

The Things I do for Love – Bran II

The chapter begins with a bunch of the party out hunting wild boar, which Robert wanted for the feast that evening.  Bran is eagerly anticipating heading south and riding a real horse for a change, instead of his usual pony. He daydreams about being a knight of the kingsguard and considers the three kingsguard that came along with King Robert. Of the three, he says that Jaime is the only one who looked like the knights in the stories. Jaime, however, doesn't seem very fond of boar hunting and isn't with the party.

He reminisces about his life in Winterfell and visits a couple of friends. He plays with his wolf for a bit and then decides to go climbing. His wolf, the only one still without a name at this point, objects to his climbing. This is where some of the interesting imagery begins and, of course, he begins his ascent into warg-dom.

First, when he begins climbing he considers Winterfell, “To a boy, Winterfell was a grey stone labyrinth of walls and towers and courtyards and tunnels spreading out in all directions. In the older parts of the castle, the halls slanted up and down so that you couldn't even be sure what floor you were on. The place had grown over the centuries like some monstrous stone tree, Maester Luwin told him once, and its branches were gnarled and thick and twisted, its roots sunk deep into the earth.”

This seems like a comparison to an old bone-white weirwood tree, which we’ll see referenced again as a tree that looks like stone around the cave up north and possibly on the Iron Islands. Is it only a comparison though, or does Winterfell have something magical about it below in its deep roots? What keeps it warm? What’s in the crypts?

The tree imagery doesn't stop there; however, “He confessed his crime the next day in a fit of guilt. Lord Eddard ordered him to the godswood to cleanse himself. Guards were posted to see that Bran remained there alone all night to reflect on his disobedience. The next morning Bran was nowhere to be seen. They finally found him fast asleep in the upper branches of the tallest sentinel in the grove.”

Could this possibly be foreshadowing his time inside and connected to a weirwood, just as Blood Raven is?

“When he got out from under it and scrambled up near the sky, Bran could see all of Winterfell in a glance. He liked the way it looked, spread out beneath him, only birds wheeling over his head while all the life of the castle went on below. Bran could perch for hours among the shapeless, rain-worn gargoyles that brooded over the First Keep, watching it all: the men drilling with wood and steel in the yard, the cooks tending their vegetables in the glass garden, restless dogs running back and forth in the kennels, the silence of the godswood, the girls gossiping beside the washing well. It made him feel like he was lord of the castle, in a way even Robb would never know.”

This is very similar to what happens to Bran next. He enjoys seeing events in Winterfell unfold from above. The next thing he knows, he’s flying and seeing events all across Westeros from above.  Is it possible that he becomes a kind of “lord of warging/greenseeing” that his siblings and any other wargs would never know?

“Old Nan told him a story about a bad little boy who climbed too high and was struck down by lightning, and how afterward the crows came to peck out his eyes. Bran was not impressed. There were crows’ nests atop the broken tower, where no one ever went but him, and sometimes he filled his pockets with corn before he climbed up there and the crows ate it right out of his hand. None of them had ever shown the slightest bit of interest in pecking out his eyes.”

Is it just another Old Nan story or does she know something about warging, or even about Blood Raven and his crows?

Finally, as he gets to the top of the First Keep, we learn of the incestuous relationship between Jaime and Cersei and, well, Bran never falls….

Before he left the window, Bran says his age (7) if that’s of any significance. The wolf howls, the crows circle.