A Song of Ice and Fire

[bushido_man96]

I will. Hopefully, it will be soon.

[bushido_man96]

A Game of Thrones; Tyrion

Tyrion has chosen to ride north the Wall with Benjen Stark, Jon Snow, and a few others on the way. We meet Yoren, a man of the Night's Watch who has been out "recruiting" a few less-than-worthy individuals for Wall. The work on the Wall, which used to be considered honorable to do, has fallen out of favor with the realm, and has become a job that no one wants to do. In the end, recruits are filled in by bringing criminals facing death or some other punishment, and they keep their lives by serving on the Wall, making it a vertible prison camp.

The trip is a long one, and Tyrion does not enjoy the riding much. Once the group gets so far north that they run out of towns, they have to build camp, so Tyrion goes off to read. Jon finds him, and asks why he reads so much. Tyrion is very wise, and tells Jon this by saying that his mind is his weapon, his strength, and he keeps it sharp by reading. Tyrion is reading a book from Winterfell's library on, yep, dragons (coincidence? I think not ). Jon and Tyrion begin to talk about the Wall, and Tyrion pretty much insults it, which angers Jon at first. When Jon becomes angry, and is approached by Tryion (non-threating), Ghost jumps Tyrion, quietly, surprising him. Ghost makes no sound. In the end, Jon calls the wolf off, and the two head back for the camp, in a way kind of reconciled toward each other. They both seem to know that they can never aspire to be what they want or are, because of their stations and shortcomings.

Tyrion comments about how much Stark there is in Jon. Whoever his mother was, left little of herself in him.

[A_Train]

Great to see you got the books back.

The author updated his webpage today to announce; the fifth book is not done, nor does it appear to be near completion. D'oh.

[bushido_man96]

Man, that bites!

[bushido_man96]

A Game of Thrones; Catelyn

Catelyn sits in the sickroom with Bran, who has yet to awaken. The meat of this chapter is an assassination attempt on Bran, the diversion for which was setting the library of Winterfell afire. When the assassin arrives at the room, he comments that no one was to be in the room, but Bran. Cat struggles with the assassin, and before the killer is able to do his job, Bran's direwolf arrives, and dispatches the killer. Afterwards, Cat is treated for her injuries. Her hands were cut very badly in the struggle with the knifer. She is given milk of the poppy, and finally sleeps, for 4 days.

Upon awakening, Cat speaks with Luwin, Rodrick Cassel, Robb, and Theon Greyjoy, the ward of Eddard from the Iron Islands, and Cat states that she feels Bran was to be killed for something that he saw. She knows that Jaime Lannister was in the castle when the group went out hunting, and suspects him. She tells them of the message from her sister, Lysa, of the suspision of Lord Arryn's death at the hands of the Lannisters, which she thinks is linked. Cat decides that she will go to King's Landing, and find out what she can.

What doesn't make sense to me is why Theon Greyjoy is trusted in such a way to be involved in this discussion. Theon refers to Eddard as a "second father" and also states that his family owes the Starks a great debt. None of this makes sense, but it becomes clearer later on, when we learn how Ned and Robert fought against Greyjoy's Rebellion.

[A_Train]

Theon was trusted by the Starks, Robb especially. I don't doubt that Catelyn had come to trust him in many ways, bu tonly so long as he was within their household. Sending him back to Balon Grejoy was what she feared (rightfully so).

Some of the things Theon said in that chapter were likely only said because he knew that it was what they wanted to hear. He was fond of Robb he admited, like a brother. I sense there was resentment to Catelyn and Eddard, but some of that may just be Theon trying to justify his actions later in the series. Remember, even after returning to his father, Theon is not planning to turn on the Starks. this is Balons plan even before Theon has set foot on the island. Theon has little choice but to go along with it, and winds up making things worse for everyone when he does.

[bushido_man96]

Yeah, you bring up some good points. I think that for the most part, Theon is in for himself. However, one of his best qualities, I feel, is his shrewdness. When he does finally get back to his father, he is not looked at as Ironborn anymore; he spent too much time away from the sea. However, I thought that Theon was closer to Jon than he was to Robb; Theon and Jon kind of fell into a similar mold together.

[bushido_man96]

A Game of Thrones; Sansa

This is one of my favorite chapters, I think. We see the stark comparisons between Arya and Sansa. Sansa is the proper lady, well bred and refined. Arya, is quite the opposite. Sansa is concerned with her stature; Arya is not. Arya seems very down-to-earth, and Sansa has her head in the clouds. We learn that Sansa is so connected to the romanticized stories that she heard as a child, that she actually believes them to be the way of the world. She speaks of them so much, that it almost makes you sick at times.

Sansa and Arya are to spend the day riding with the Queen and Princess Myrcella in the Queen's wheelhouse. Sansa is excited about this, but Arya would rather hang out with the butcher's boy, Mycah. Sansa is afraid that Arya will ruin everything for her today, too. Upon returning from talking with Arya about what the days agenda is supposed to be, Sansa learns that 3 knights have arrived to see the King the rest of the way home. We meet Ser Berristan Selmy, The Bold, who is the head of the Kingsguard. We also meet King Robert's younger brother, Renly Baratheon, who is the Lord of Storm's End. Last of all, is Ser Ilyn Payne, the King's headsman, who had his tongue ripped out by the Mad King; he is an intimidating figure, and Sansa is physically frightened of him at first. The Queen tells Sansa that she must postpone their day together, and instead offers for Jofferey to spend the day with Sansa. Sansa is delighted, and they spend the day riding together (which she told him she loved to do, but told Arya earlier that she hated riding).

They go riding, explore, eat and drink wine, and ride some more. They come upon two youngsters who are playing at swords, and Jofferey decides to let his true colors show. The two playing are Mycah and Arya. Jofferey decides to initmidate Mycah, and Arya's true colors show through. She attacks Jofferey with her stick, and when Jofferey comes at her, Nymeria attacks him. Arya finishes by tossing Joff's sword into the river, and Sansa has to send for help for Joff. Joff shows displeasure with Sansa at the end of it all, too.

[A_Train]

If I recall correctly, neither Theon nor Jon Snow liked each other.

I believe Jon thinks Theon is an vein idiot, while Theon is of the mind that baseborn have no place among the noble born.

I think Robb was the only Stark Theon grew attached too. I wish there could have been a meeting between them after the incidents that put them at war.

Sansa and her chapters really annoyed me in the early stages of the books. She is such a prissy brat that she is always siding with Lannisters over her own family.

[bushido_man96]

I guess I don't recall Theon and Jon's relationship well. I'll see here soon, though. You may be right about Robb and Theon. It will be interesting to see if Theon is still around or not in the later books. I assume that he is not, but I could be wrong. Martin has a way of surprising us.

As for Sansa, you hit the nail on the head with her. It is almost painful to read her chapters; it just annoys me. When she becomes more involved, and even has her chapters changed to the name Alayne, things get a bit more interesting to her. She starts to realize that real life isn't like the stories.