Game of Thrones – Real Life Medieval Murder Mysteries

The first books = murder mystery

Ned (and Catelyn) was the detective, trying to find out who killed Jon Arryn, injured Bran and
tried to kill Bran with Littlefingers’ dagger.
Ned dies before he figures out the mystery

Real life examples:

The Princes in the Tower (review at home)
 Richard, Edward’s brother, allegedly killed Edward IV’s sons
 Henry VI was the “Mad King”
 War of the Roses
Relating to the book
Tyrion accused of killing Joffrey
Stannis calling Joffrey and Tommen bastards
Renly telling Eddard to “seize Myrcella and Tommen”
The Moutain killing the Targaryen children

Eddard wants nothing to do with harming the princes

Tyrion = Richard III

Tyrion is innocent of the murder, but not of the war
Richard III had scoliosis, but still a very good fighter in the war of the roses, and didn’t let his
disability stop him

Death of Henri II, King or France = Jon Arryn’s squire (the one that Eddard wanted to interview)
Hugh of the Vale

Game of Thrones as a murder mystery

“who killed Jon Arryn?” Ned tried to figure it out until he is killed. The detective usually crack
the case. By the time this case is cracked, no one really cares, and Ned is dead.

Who brought Lysa’s letter to Winterfell?

The readers don’t know what the letter said, only what Catelyn paraphrased. The sketchiness of
the letter should tip off the readers that there’s a conspiracy.

There are no lawyers in the story. Justice was administered by the king, the hand, or whoever is
in power – legal system questionable

G. K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, not a medieval sleuth, but a priest

Samuel Tarly is a sleuth in the medieval monk tradition

“how good is Ned as a detective”

Lyanna was raped by the Targaryen prince, Jon is the kid. The king issued for Robert and Ned’s
warrant to execute them, Jon Arryn rebels against them. They win, and Robert becomes king.
Ned Stark is a man of action.
 Detached demeanour, hardboiled, down-to-earth (unlike monk detectives)
 He “does not want to be an erudite solver of riddles in the Sherlock Homes manner; he
wants to be a hard and shifty, able to take care of himself
 He has his own sense of justice and wants to achieve it in his own way. Sometimes the
means the villain gest away
 Man of integrity in a seedy, corrupt world (brothel, bars)

The first few chapters of Ned at King’s Landing is very film noir. With Littlefinger taking Ned to
the brothel to find Catelyn, etc.

Baelish has history with Catelyn, and the brothel encounter was to make a point. After
challenging Ned’s brother to a duel and defeated, he learned the hard way to not get what he
wants through martial methods.

Baelish was intimate with both Catelyn and Lysa, he didn’t have sex with Catelyn, but he wasn’t
lying. HOW THO??

People tend to think Baelish was very good with his cunning and dangerous plans, but he is also
very childish and naïve.

Ned’s Four investigation

1. Who killed Jon Arryn?
2. Why did Bran fall?
3. Why was Bran almost assassinated/Who sent the catspaw?
Ned thought these things were connect when he died. He’s a shitty detective cuz he figured out
things accidentally, and he’s not very subtle about going about searching for answers.

Tyrion is very loyal to his family

Even if he thought that either Jaime or Cersei had sent to kill a child, he still wanted to protect
them and be loyal, so is he a good person?
He wasn’t acting in his personal interest. He didn’t suggest someone else tried to kill Bran,
because he knew that it would be either Jaime or Cersei.

Page 262 Eddard 7 Renly mentions something about the bet between the Lannister siblings.
“if the imp were here, I would win again” after Jaime was defeated by the Hound during the
tourney, this confirms Tyrion’s defence that he never bet against his siblings or won the dagger.
Robert won it instead.

Valyrian steel is supposed to be inconspicuous, not blue and glowy (like the show). That’s why
Joffrey took it and did it instead.

Motives:
Joffrey was humiliated by Tyrion for not “giving his condolences” to lady Stark
Bran bested Tommon in a duel/spar
Joffrey was driven crazy by the direwolves howling
Constructed by Littlefinger cuz he wanted the Lannister and Stark to fight (only in the tv show?)

How smart is Littlefinger, really?

Littlefingers was responsible for Ned’s death, since nobody else wanted him to die.

Why doesn’t Tyrion have his revenge on Litterfinger for lying and framing Tyrion?

Stannis, Renly, Varys, and Littlefinger knew the entire time that Joffrey and his siblings aren’t
Robert’s kids

Did Tywin know about the incest between Cersei and Jaime?
He tried to keep them apart and knew people gossiped about it, but he ignores it.

Even if Ned figured out the mysteries, it makes no difference. It’s not that kind of book that
GRRM is trying to write

Childhood and innocence in A Game of Thrones

1. The cruelty of GRRM’S (writing against the fantasy tradition)

In the Narnia books, childhood is a privileged time, blessed and protected by God.
Influences: the Princess and Curdic by George MacDonald, with a wolf protector for the
children.
What kind of divine or supernatural protection do the Stark Children enjoy? Is it enough?
The Direwolves. Not necessarily, cuz they can still die.

Rule that GRRM breaks:

 you cannot kill a child unless they are a minor character.
 You cannot kill the main character
Lyra from a Golden Compass = Bran
 She can’t fall or die when she goes to climb on architectures, but Bran does and almost
dies
2. Can we feel compassion for evil children?
 GRRM wanted readers to feel a bit of pity for Joffrey when he dies, because he is still a
13-year-old boy after all.
 Joffrey is a typical bully that had absolute power. We hate them, but we don’t necessarily
want him to die. Overtime, they mellow out and become a better person. Joffrey might
not have mellowed out, but we don’t know what could’ve happened because now he’s
dead.
3. Sex and children. Does GRRM cross a line? Does HBO?
 If HBO kept the original ages of the children, then Dany’s sex scenes would be against
the law.
 Is GRRM guilty of child pornography?
 i. Not necessarily? According to the period that the story is set in, it is
common for children to marry young and have children, so it is not
unreasonable for GRRM to have that in the story.
ii. She is her brother’s property and she is used as a bargaining chip to get
military power – also why she’s so touchy about slavery
 Several different stories in a similar setting has sexual experiences as well at a very
young age: like Romeo and Juliet, The Amber Spyglass
 GRRM does his controversies with purpose.
4. Does innocence have its own dark side? Sansa? Daenerys? Arya?
 Sansa was apathetic about Hugh’s death during the tourney
 Danny being “curiously calm” when she witnessed her brother’s death
o Is that her strength and courage? Or another psychosis
 Arya killing for the first time when she was 9 years old, kicking a dead body
5. Can we trust what we see?

The iron throne. A machiavelllian image, kings, especially usurpers, must be constantly alert.

Many fans criticize Ned for his actions and accuse him of being a naif, trusting Littlefinger when
he told him not to.

Cersei: “when you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground”

 Cersei speaks to Eddard like he was playing the game of thrones and wants the throne for
himself, but he never wanted the iron throne for himself.
 Ned has never played to be king, but he has been a kingmaker. His put Robert on the
throne 15 years ago and he means to put Stannis on the throne now.
 Ned doesn’t even like Stannis, but Stannis is the legitimate heir to the throne since
Joffrey is not Robert’s son. It makes sense for him. He has no personal political
ambitions
 It never crosses Ned’s mind to make Jon the king, since he is a Targaryen

To describe Ned: “He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his
ruin than his preservation” The Prince (1513), chapter 15

In other words, virtue does not pay. The surest way to destroy yourself is to act honorably. This
might be an epitaph for Ned Stark. Many think that he destroys himself when he warns Cersei
that he is going to tell Robert about her incestuous relationship with Jaime

So why does Ned tell Cersei he knows her secret? What plans does Cersei have in motion when
this conversation takes place? Is Robert’s assassination already going smoothly to plan? Or is
Cersei in a panic? Why does Cersei mention Ashara Dayne? Why does GRRM bring her back
into this chapter?

Cersei is freaking out at that point. She clumsily tries to seduce Eddard, and Robert’s hunting trip
for the deer (white hart?) didn’t go well. She did intend to kill Robert during that trip by a bow
and arrow, but that deer died already. Ned tells her he knows her secret, so she panics and tries to
kill Robert before he could come back from his hunting trip.

Ashara Dayne is one of the people rumoured to be Jon’s mother, sister of Arthur Dayne, who
later committed suicide after giving birth to Ned’s stillborn daughter. They did have a
relationship, but it wasn’t adulterous since he wasn’t with Catelyn yet.
Ned couldn’t bring himself to harm children, that’s why he had such a bad argument with Robert
about Dany’s assassination and resigned as the Hand. Part of his fear comes from not knowing
what Robert would do if he found out Jon is a Targaryen.

Ned has a very good marriage with Catelyn, but his relationship with Ashara was love at first
sight.

On Cersei:
“it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with” The
Prince, chapter 17

“the only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you” – Cersei to Sansa
she left out the part where the original quote basically says “if one has to choose in between the
two” and “nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love,
he avoids hatred”
That caused everybody to hate Joffrey

Machiavelli’s key quality, essential for successful prince, is virtù

Not to be confused with Christian “virtue.” Latin virtus meant “strength” (etymological
connection with “virile”). But muscle is not enough. Naked force alone will just get you hated.
The successful ruler must claim the moral high ground even if he neither deserves it nor wants it.
The aim is to be both loved and feared, but if you have to choose, choose fear.

Ned’s failed coup

He didn’t see it as a coup since he’s trying to stop Cersei’s coup, but his timing is questionable
and clumsy.
He feels secure with Robert’s piece of paper naming him Regent, but Cersei teared them up. He
should’ve let everyone know the moment the will was written.

Ned wasn’t necessarily stupid, he was too loyal.

Ned rejects 2 offers, from Renly, who advises him machiavellian force, and Littlefinger advises
him machiavellian fraud.

Ned doesn’t fail because he’s too honourable, he fails because he’s not honourable enough.
Ned lies many times.

Eddard Stark’s Lies:

 He lies to Cat (and everyone else) about Jon’s parentage, putting strain on his otherwise
excellent marriage
 He lies to Jaime when he tells him that Cat seized Tyrion on his order
  He lied the same thing to Robert
 He lies to Robert when he was on his deathbed, and changes his will from “my son
Joffrey” to “my heir”
o “the lies we tell for love” reminds of “the things we do for love” from Jaime when
he pushed Bran off the tower
 he again lies to Robert when he begs him to promise to ‘protect my children’ when Ned
agrees to do so for his bastards, not Cersei’s children.

He couldn’t bring himself to break Robert’s heart with the truth when he is dying

Nedieval Noir. Force vs Fraud

Machiavelli on Necessity
You can’t afford to be nice, if you don’t have the sinister side of you, you will fail in the world
When you break a promise, “The promise given was a necessity of the past; the word broken is a
necessity of the present”
because of necessity, we must do evil

But “necessity” has been used to excuse and justify many controversial political acts and
practices since the 16th century

Robert and Varys use the doctrine of necessity to justify killing children (Dany)
“it is a terrible thing we contemplate, a vile thing. Yet we who presume to rule must do vile
things for the good of the realm… we have no choice…”

Eddard also uses that to justify the need to kill the deserter in the very beginning of the story.

Not every evil act in GOT is motivated by necessity. Cersie is surprised by Joffrey’s unnecessary
decision to execute Eddard Stark. This looks like a Lannister triumph, but it actually hurts the
Lannister cause

Joffrey’s decision “looks” spontaneous. Tywin assumes it was when he sends Tyrion to “rule”.
“her son needs to be taken in hand before he ruins us all” But there might be someone else
pulling Joffrey’s strings. Littlefinger was present at the execution and made no attempt to stop
Set Ilyn Payne and Set Janos Slynt from carrying out Joffrey’s command. Both sprang instantly
into motion.

Tywin decides to have Tyrion take-over because Cersei lost Arya, she allowed her son to fire the
head of the kingsguard, and have the Hound replace him instead, also allowing Eddard’s
execution to happen.

Joffrey’s order to execute was not spontaneous, but an idea that was planted by Littlefinger, as he
was the only person that wasn’t surprised and the two knights were his men.
Littlefinger is a puppeteer that could manipulate people from afar, but is he a Machiavellion
iceman that is cunning and ruthless, or is he a bitter boy looking for revenge?

What are Littlefinger’s motives and goals?

Not very clear, but they seem to be some twisted combination of ambition, revenge, and love
This is interesting because this is usually a trope used for woman.
“heaven has no rage life Love to Hatred turned
Nor Hell a Fury like a woman scorned”

Petyr, Cat, and Lysa used to have kissing games (as seen in Catelyn 11) Cat didn’t like it, but
Lysa did.
Petyr Baelish’s duel with Brandon Stark for Cat. The first and last time he tried to use force as a
means to achieve his goals.

Edmure Tully nicknamed Petyr Baelish “Littlefinger” as an insult (on penis size?). But he
embraces it like Tyrion and Jon do with their nicknames (Imp, Lord Snow)

Littlefinger’s sigil is a mockingbird, everything he says is mocking, it always has another

meaning

The story that Littlefinger took Cat’s maidenhead. She responds to Tyrion “That’s a lie!” when
he brings it up. But it could mean 1. “you’re lying! Petyr would never say that!” or 2. “That
never happened!”

But that never happened. Littlefinger was drunk, and Lysa had sex with him, but he thought it
was Cat. This echoes to where Robert had sex with Cersei and he called for Lyanna’s name.

Jon’s mother is Lyanna and Rhaegar R + L = J

The beauty of R + L = J is that it is deeply woven into GRRM’s writing (symbols, motifs,
images) – the Blue Roses Theme

It appears the first time in Eddard 1, when he thought of when he found her before she died, the
room smelled of blood and roses, and “the rose petals spilling from her palm were dead and
black”, and Ned said to Robert, “I bring her flowers when I can. Lyanna was… fond of roses.”
But how can the room smell of roses when the roses are dead?
Dead roses are a common symbol of faded love.

Eddard has several dreams of blue roses, like when he was dreaming about the ballet at the
Tower of Joy, “he could hear Lyanna screaming. ‘Eddard!’ she called. A storm of rose petals
blew across a blood streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death”
Another happened when Eddard had a crypt dream and saw Lyanna wearing “a garland of pale
blue roses, and her eyes wept blood”

“The moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse part his
own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty’s laurel in Lyanna’s lap.
He could see it still: a crown of winter roses, blue as frost” (Eddard 15)
Robert didn’t flip, he agreed that Rhaegar chose correctly.

In the house of the Undying Ones in the city of Qarth, Daenerys has a vision of a blue flower in a
wall of ice.
“A blue flower growing from a chink in a wall of ice, filling the air with sweetness”
the flower here means Jon being on the wall

The Story of Bael the Bard

 A blue rose – connected to Lyanna
 An abducted daughter who loves her abductor – Lyanna loves Rhaegar
 A woman who throws herself to her death from a tower – Ashara’s suicide
 A “stark” son who does not know who he is - Jon
 A musician seducer (Bael’s lute, Rhaegar’s harp)

This has all the parallels to what happened to Lyanna, Rhaegar, Ashara, and Eddard

Other theory was that Ashara was Jon’s mother, and she committed suicide after Eddard killed
her brother and took her baby. Eddard was furious when he heard of the rumour, and then it was
never brought up again.

Robert humoured Ned and said to go have some beer and some women, and said that Ned’s only
slept with another person once (to have Jon). But Robert’s never seen the women before, and
Ned’s never described how she looked like, because Robert would’ve recognized her and
might’ve killed Jon in rage.
GRRM planted all the clues for readers to track.

What did Ned promise his sister?

 Raise Jon as his own
 Never tell the secret of Jon’s parentage (except maybe one day, Jon)
 There might be other promises, perhaps related to the Winterfell cryps

Lyanna’s “fever” and “blood” suggest she died giving birth as the midwives and doctors don’t
wash their hands and the mothers could get infections. Back then, 1 in 4 women died given birth.

Rhaegar’s “Rape” of Lyanna. Bran uses the word “rape” presumably because that is what Eddard
has told him. Was Lyanna raped or is this just another lie? (not just Eddard’s “Rape” is the
official Baratheon story)
Roberts’ rebellion was built on a lie, and Ned lied to Bran.

Robert perceived the situation as Rhaegar taking advantage of Lyanna, and wanted to “kill him
over and over again for what he did to her.” Did to her, or did with her?

In pre-modern society, rape was seen as a crime to the women’s male relatives, not the women.
And a rape doesn’t always mean that it wasn’t consensual between the guy and the women, but
that her male relatives found offence in the relationship.
Ex: Guinevere was “raped” by her lover Lancelot when he rescued her from being burned as an
adulteress

Point is, Robert and Eddard might genuinely believe that Rhaegar “raped” Lyanna even if she
wanted to leave with him, because she was taken when she was betrothed to Robert and without
the consent from her family. So, Ned didn’t lie to Bran when he said Rhaegar “raped” his aunt.

Also Ned thinks that Lyanna brought scandal upon the family. And Robert was so angry because
Lyanna wanted Rhaegar instead of him when he loved her so much, so he was humiliated.

Lyanna was self-willed and wanted to have her own life.

“For the first time in years, Ned found himself remembering Rhaegar Targaryen. He wondered if
Rhaegar had frequented brothels; somehow he thought not”
 This is a surprise as Robert said “what he did to her” insinuates that Rhaegar was
sexually aggressive. If that’s true, then he wouldn’t have thought twice about visiting a
brothel.

Rhaegar’s infatuation started before he gave her the laurel of beauty at the tourney. In the storm
of sword, Meera tells the story of the feast at the tourney in Bran 2, where Lyanan wept when
she heard Rhaegar play his harp, and Eddard danced with Ashara. It’s possible that Eddard and
Ashara, Lyanna and Rhaegar fell in love around the same time.
Meera thought Bran would know this story already as it should be part of their family history,
but Bran didn’t know about it.

The Knight of the Laughing Tree – search up, most likely Lyanna
Lyanna was a rebel, a tomboy and a wizard on horseback. The secret to winning tournaments is
not strength of the knight, but ability to control your horse.

Rhaegar found the shield and armor, but never found the knight. What might’ve happened was
that he actually did find Lyanna in disguise, fought her, and realized who she is and
connected/bonded with her.

Tower of joy – Joyous Gard = Rhaegar and Lyanna – Lancelot and Guinevere
Usual medieval adultery is the man taking away the women who is in a marriage, but in this
case, it is Rhaegar who is married, while Lyanna wasn’t yet.

Mysteries and conspiracies

Who is Varys and what s the Varys-Illyrio conspiracy? Is Varys really a eunuch? Why is he
bald? Is it significant that “Varys” sounds a bit like “Aerys,” “Rhaenys,” “Daenerys”?

The Blackfyre rebellion – search up

Dany’s prophecy

All prophets and Messiahs are tempted in the desert, especially in Abrahamic religions

When Dany stood into the pyre, Jorah thought she was going to commit suicide, but she wasn’t.

“it’s not your screams I want, it’s your life” – Dany wants her human sacrifice

if the whole point of the blood magic was for the three life forces to go to the dragons, how did it
work if Drogo and the baby was already dead?

Fire and magic are both required to hatch the dragon eggs. Previous attempts from other people
were all either fire or magic, but not both. People thought she just wanted revenge or to revive
Drogo, but she’s actually trying to hatch the eggs. Or the dragons hatched to protect Dany from
the fire

Magic was a spent force, but with the comet and the return of dragons, magic is back again

If something doesn’t exist, it just means it’s not what it seems. – Absence of Evidence is not
Evidence of Absence

In the house of the undying, the woman being violated is Westeros and the 4 men are the
remaining kings that are still fighting each other

Three is a very important number in the prophecies

House of the undying could be a temptation, to lead the “hero” astray,

The house of the red door could be a temptation for Dany to abandon her destiny, and where she
saw a room full of wizards with the doors wide open, but the real door is actually behind the
opened door on the right.

Passive Winning
Eleanor of Aquitaine – basically Cercei, but actually Catelyn Stark
Married to Louis, but divorced because they are cousins, then married her other cousin, Henry.
But Henry later imprisoned her because she hates his mistresses and maybe murdered one of
them.
She came up with the in-built fireplace, and the medieval Courtly Love
Courtly love: lol music history, highly conventionalized tradition of love between a knight and
an unattainable married noblewoman. It was meant to be an ennobling passion, sexualized but
unconsummated.
Catelyn is a character “who accepted her role and functions within a narrow society and,
nonetheless, achieves considerable influence and power”
While Catelyn is too timid to change the ways, Cercei broke the stereotype.
Cercei asked: “why must women be subordinate to men?”
“why can’t a woman inherit Casterly Rock?”
“why can’t a woman sit on the Iron Throne?”

GRRM indirectly asks the readers, which women are you rooting for?
Fans think that Cercei is “active”, while Catelyn is “passive”, but it is Cat who makes
momentous decisions. Cercei mostly plays a waiting game (or tries to). She never leaves King’s
Landing. Cat goes on campaign with Robb. She also makes two spontaneous decisions that
change the course of Westeros history. What are they?
 Arresting Tyrion
 Releasing Jaime
They are not necessarily stupid, two of these instances are connected to her children, Bran, then
both Bran and Rickon.
Which makes her leaving Bran after he was paralyzed and almost killed very unbelievable, just
to speak to Eddard in person. This is more on bad writing in that section.
Cat releases Jaime to force Tyrion’s conscience to make him release the girls. In the books, Cat
releases him after hearing about Bran and Rickon’s death, and just want her children back.

Cat thought that Cercei was connected to the murder of Jon Arryn and the murder attempt on
Bran, but she wasn’t.

Cercei is actually very passive, only worked in defence (such as killing Robert), and reliant on
the patriarchy (kept asking for her father and Jaime’s return)

Catelyn even has something like a “feminist” moment when Robb says he would have traded
Jaime for Eddard. Cat: “But not for the girls? Her voice was icy quiet. ‘Girls are not important
enough, are they?”
But strategically, the girls are just family, they are not important as Jaime in a war like this

Many fans also hate Sansa for the same reasons they hate her mother. She can’t keep two secrets
to save her life. Once when she tells Cercei about Ned’s plans to escape, then twice when she
talked about her marriage to the Tyrells

Elizabeth of York is the model for Sansa

Bran and Summer the Wolf

There have been several Brandon’s in House Stark

 Bran the Builder, who founded house Stark, built Winterfell and the Wall
 A later Brandon (possibly the same one) who gave the land known as “the Gift” to the
Night’s Watch
 A Brandon Stark whose daughter took bael the Bard, a King-Beyond-the-Wall as her
lover, but no Starks seems to remember him, only the wildlings do
 Ned Stark’s older brother who Bran sees as his role model. Bran’s never met him since
he died before Bran was born, but Bran still admires him
Little Walder is actually the bigger guy, But Walder is the smaller guy, but more dangerous.
The lord of the crossing game that the Little and Big Walder plays foreshadows the red wedding
and Rob crossing the river

This game alludes to the fight between Little John and Robin Hood

When Bran remembers about what happened when he fell, it was anticlimactic and GRRM
didn’t give us a “total recall” moment. Why?
Cuz it’s like what happened with Ned figured out the mystery, it doesn’t matter anymore

In GT the three-eyed crow tells Bran to fly, and he does, if only in his dreams. In the 5th book,
Bryndon tells Bran that “You will never walk again, Bran… but you will fly” How?
With a dragon? Escape? Fly as a shapeshifted dragon? Metaphorically?

Bran can’t fly with a dragon cuz that’s Dany’s thing already. But that might be shared with
Dany.
Bran can still become a knight then cuz physical flying is glorified knighthood

Or mind-control a dragon, but it would be difficult to possess since they are bigger in size and
magical in nature. Also it doesn’t make sense with Bran possessing Summer cuz he would be
walking when possessing Summer. But after possessing an animal for a long time, the human
intelligence fades away. Maybe being magical might make a difference.
Mormont’s raven might be a bird with a human mind? Or it might be the three-eyed-crow?
“Mormont stroked the raven under the beak with a finger, but all the while his eyes never left Jon
Snow”
Bran might be able to fly by possessing the ravens and gather intelligence that way, instead of
military flying
Maybe he would just be a passenger on a dragon with Dany as the rider?

Or figuratively, flying through space and time, like how he did to kill Littlefinger, but that sucks
and very anticlimactic

Brynden Rivers. Legitimized bastard of Aegon IV. Albino, Targaryen loyalist. He disappeared
beyond the Wall 252 AC. He became the three-eyed crow, and he’s 121 years-old in GT

Benjin Stark might have taken the black because he might’ve aided and abetted Lyanna to escape
to Rhaegar

“Warg” – a noun coined by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Hobbit from the Old Norse vargr, “woll”
 In JRRT a warg is an evil wolf, sometimes ridden by a warg-rider
 In GRRM a warg is a human skinchanger
Don’t use warg as a verb

Bran, Arya, and Jon all have vivid Warg dreams, but something is unusual about these dreams.
What is it?
Why doesn’t GRRM give us Robb’s pov chapters? It doesn’t show the battle scenes.

Warg dreams are kinda like lucid dreams where things are happening in the current time and
space.

Bran is getting addicted to the wolf dreams

Fathers and Sons in A Song of Ice and Fire

Tywin and Balon are stern patriarchs without female supervision. Tywin’s wife died giving birth
to Tyrion, and Balon’s wife Alannys lives on another Iron Island where she grieves for her dead
sons Rodrik and Maron, Theon’s older brothers.

The practice of warding was not always about hostages, but fostering good relations and
alliances between noble houses. Bran or Rickon would’ve been fostered somewhere else. Girls
could be fostered out too, like Myrcella.

Not everyone likes the ward system, mothers especially. Lysa murdered Jon Arryn mainly to
avoid her son being warded after her trauma of her first child being aborted by her father.

Ward could either mean to watch over and protect, or to guard like a prisoner.

Theon resented being Starks’ ward because Eddard held him at arm’s length, he was a hostage
treated hypocritically like a family, but never actually one of them, so he held Ser Rodrik’s
daughter hostage in the second book

Why do Jon and Theon hate each other?

They think “I have no more place in this family than him” than each other
“no more place at Winterfell than Theon Greyjoy”

Theon’s sexual scenes are to make contrast with Robb and Jon (more in ppt), and explains why
he hit on his sister later

When Theon went back, he felt entitled to the throne

Instead of saying that Robb would “give Balon a crown” he should’ve addressed it as Balon
being a brother king.

The battle of Blackwater

Why couldn’t engineers build a bridge to kings landing.

Arya

Catelyn was a passive woman, but Arya isn’t

Arya is more the “spunky princess” type. But does she refuse to “accept what her father lays
down
Arya and Sansa kept fighting each other cuz they are so different, and Eddard wants them to be
more alike each other so there can be some peace in the household.

Nymeria vs Lady
Lady is a very predictable name from Sansa, feminine, royal
While Nymeria was a strong queen warrior that fought in battles
Nymeria and Rhoynar migration to Dorne
Dorne = Spain

Killing seems to come easily to Arya as early as 9 years old.

 Is it disturbing?
o Self-defence – she had a strong instinct to survive
o Concerning for her psychology as it’s impossible to go through that so young
without trauma
o She kicks two bodies – Desmond and Yoren – reminds readers that she is a child
after all
 Yoren did beat her badly previously in the story, so it might be payback
o She kills one of the soldiers that fought for Robb

Arya is not just cold and cruel. She is compassionate too and many of her spontaneous acts are
prompted by pity and mercy. Her cold and warm sides are closely related to each other, and both
impulsive.

Harrenhal, like the Mountain, it’s big, misshapen, and refuses to die
The Hall of Harren the Black, but also echoes Harrowing of Hell.

The Mountain – obey, serve, and live “work and you’ll be free” metaphorically, the workers will
never be free

“I have often laughed at the weaklings, who think themselves good because their claws are
blunt” Friedrich Nietzsche
“She hated her villages for their sheepishness, almost as much as she hated herself” Is this
blaming the victim? Stockholm syndrome?
 She hates her position in society, being helpless
She asks the assassin to kill Weese and the knight that laughed about the sexual harassment
between the Mountain and the innkeeper’s daughter

Why did she call herself Weasel?

 Named after the little girl that was in the march to Harrenhal, who intuitively knew Arya
is a girl
The Northmen that Arya released are there on purpose, her releasing them doesn’t matter at all, it
would have happened anyway since Vargo Hoat had sold out to Roose Bolton.

It makes sense for GRRM to make Arya not identify who she is to Robbett Glover, but she didn’t
tell anyone who she is because all of people around her all failed her.

Even as Vargo Hoat is betraying the Lannisters, Roose Bolton is (probably) preparing to betray
the Starks. Arya does not know it, but one Lannister crony has been replaced with another one,
even more dangerous. She senses this: “Lord Bolton was her brother’s bannerman, but he
frightened her all the same”

Roose Bolton would have meetings naked and covered in leeches, and whisper so quietly that
people could barely hear him. Arya would be right to avoid him

Elmar Frey would’ve married Arya, and Arya curses the princess to be stupid, not knowing that
she was cursing herself.

Robin hood and his merry men

Robin of Locksley and Beric of Blackhaven (both are minor noblemen who became outlaws after
a change of king)
All of the merry men have a alter ego in Game of Thrones as Beric’s men – the brotherhood
without banners

The inn of the kneeling Man (Torrhen Stark – the last king of the north)
“it did not look like an outlaws’ lair, she had to admit; it looked friendly, even homey, with its
whitewashed upper storey and slate roof… the inn even had its own dock, thrusting out into the
river… even a boat”

that boat was the one that Brienne and Jaime arrived on as they were looking for Arya

Arya doesn’t realize that Torrhen is her ancestor

Harwin had taught Arya how to ride the horse, recognizes Arya and kneels to her.

Robin and his band of outlaws kneel to knig Richard in Sherwood forest. Compare SS P. 154
‘Harwin went on one knee before her. “Arya Stark of Winterfell”’. What is the point of the
allusion?

Giving allusion to ancient medieval romance, let people have expectations, but revealing that it’s
not what happens. “this is not another robin hood tale”

The Night Watch

“The Wall predates anything else…. We stopped to see Hadrian’s Wall. I stood up there and I
tried to imagine what it was like to be a roman legionary, standing on this wall, looking at these
distant hills.” – GRRM

“what is the real threat?” that founded the Night Watch

Jon Snow remembers that the purpose of the wall was to protect people of the realms from the
supernatural, inhuman creatures outside.

The Huns vs the Goths

The military religious warrior orders back in medieval ages, such as Knights Templar

The night watch is in decline, the people that joins are often criminals instead of people from
noble families

The three estates

In medieval Europe
 Clergy
 Nobles
 Commoners
In the night watch
 Stewards
 Rangers
 Builders

Jon was really bitter that he was assigned to be a steward since he wanted to be a ranger, but it’s
actually a compliment because the commander was already grooming him to be his successor.

Jaime Lannister

Either loved or hated by fans of GoT

Anti-hero

Like Jaime, Satan is a tortured soul, the prototype of the Byronic hero, commits incest with his
daughter

Lord Byron also had an incestuous love affair with his half-sister and was probably the father of
her daughter

Is Cat stupid to release Jaime? She makes her decision after a raven arrives with the news that
Bran and Rickon are dead. She is in grief, traumatized. She wants only to save her daughters, she
wants peace for their sake. HBO is different. In HBO she hears news of her sons’ death after she
has released Jaime.
It is nothing more than a leap of faith. She appeals to the good nature of the Lannister’s that they
would release Sansa and Arya in return

Peace negotiations are not easy. Sometimes the price for peace is releasing people you loath.
This was a sticking point (for all sides) in the good Friday agreement that ended the troubles in
Northern Ireland 1998.

The conversation does not start well. Jaime is a smug sexual harasser, complete with bad puns
(“if I’m up to it”)

Jaime is unrepentant about punching Bran out the window. He confesses in a deadpan way and
blames Bran. He falls short of the oath of a knight to protect the weak and innocent

“he was weak and innocent!”

“he was weak, but not innocent”

GRRM takes the knight’s oath seriously. Ser Duncan the Tall in the Dunk and Egg books is
lowborn, but he is the one knight who honour his oath.

GRRM make sjaime as vile as possible in CK “Caitlyn 7”. Partly because his crime against Bran
is vile, and partly to make his next words credible. When Catelyn accuses him of sending the
catspaw. Jaime denies it and she believes him. This is a revelation for us too. He goes to on
repeat Tyrion’s story that Tyrion always bets on Jaime.

“there are no men like me. There is only me”

 Arrogant self-assertion for a supreme egotist
 Self-loathing. A tortured confession from a damned soul
 Some twisted combination of both the above. Jaime’s intended meaning is a defiant
boast, but the darker truth steals from him in spite of himself

Four points to consider:

 Jaime’s words are literally true. There are 7.5 billion people living today, every one of
them is unique
 Jaime’s question “if there are gods, why is the world so full of pain ad injustice” – is not
what we would expect from a narcissist. BUT Jaime might not be thinking of the same
injustices Catelyn is thinking of. Jaime might be thinking of his personal grievances: how
did Cersei end up with Robert? How could Jaime lose to a young punk like Robb Stark?
 “there are no men like me” has an ironic twist when we recall that Jaime is a twin. He
needs cersei and feels incomplete without her. As children, they were often mistaken for
each other. There is a Shakespearean parallel (but without the incest) in Sebastian and
Viola, twins in Twelfth Night
 p. 596 and p. 599 Jaime doesn’t hear the irony of his words. Three pages later, provoked
by the “kingslayer” Jaime names someone else who was “like me”, “only a man like you
would be proud of such an act” “I told you, there are no like me… Brandon was different
 from his brother, wasn’t he? He had blood in his veins instead of cold water. More like
me”

“After, Gerold Hightower himself took me aside and said to me, “you swore a vow to guard the
king, not to judge him’ That was White Bull, loyal to the end and a better man than me, all
agree.”
A touch of bitterness here
“The White Bull acquiesced in Aeyrs’ atrocities, and is now revered. Jaime killed the Mad King
and is now reviled as an oath breaker, the Kingslayer. Who is the better man?
The white bull is more honourable, but Jaime has his own morals

One thing Jaime does not tell Catelyn. He does not tell her that he killed Aerys because Aerys
planned to burn the whole city and everyone in it. We have seen a hint of the truth (Dany’s
vision in the House of the Undying ones), and will hear more in “Jaime 2” but we will not hear
the whole story until “Jaime 5” in SS (the bath scene). Why does Jaime not tell Cat the reason he
killed Aerys?

Jaime broke his oath when he killed the mad king. But he also kept his oath to keep the king’s
secrets. Jaime sacrifices his own honour to protect the Mad King’s.

On the page CK 600 we learn why Jaime resents Ned Stark. One of the most memorable images
in the books. When Ned entered the hall of the Iron Throne and saw Aerys lying there dead and
Jaime sitting on the throne, he judged Jaime with contempt. Why did Jaime sit on the throne?
Why did Ned’s contempt rankle Jaime so much?

Jaime has no ambition to be king, no more than Ned Stark. He was exhausted emotionally that he
just broke his oath, and he was curious what exactly about the throne that drove so many people
mad. The name Kingslayer damaged his reputation forever after that.

Why did he tell Brienne about it?

He felt that Brienne would be the only person that could possibly understand or believe him.

At the end of CK “Catelyn 7” Jaime comes back to sexual harassment. He taunts Cat with Ned’s
infidelity and her supposed infidelity with Littlefinger. “I never eat off another men’s trencher”
This is guy talk. But then he makes a surprising admission (not surprising to us, but surprising
that he admits it to Cat): “I’ve never lain with any woman other than Cersei. In my own way I
have been truer than your Ned ever was. Poor old dead Ned. Who has shit tor honour now, I ask
you?” why did he admit his lack of sexual experience to Cat?

This is part of the Lannister - Stark misunderstanding

One small redeeming feature. Jaime has no illusions about his own abilities. He knows he is a
great swordsman, and is proud of it, but he also knows he is a mediocre general and is honest
about it, at least to himself.
“the starks cannot hope to defeat you with swords, ser, so how they make war with poisoned
words”
“but they did beat me with swords, you chinless cretin”

Jaime’s actions surprised himself when he reached out to Brienne instead of attacking her to get
rid of her
Brienne’s Freudian slip
“No. I was my father’s only s- child”
“[basically oh shit I didn’t mean to insult you (and calls Brienne by her name)]”
there was something about Brienne that changes how he behaves

Jaime is starting to become a true knight. Is this redemptive process (or change), is it coming
about because he lost his hand or Brienne?

One of the most disturbing scenes in HBO is when Jaime rapes Cersei by their son’s dead body.
It’s disturbing because she said “no”, dead Joffery is right there next to them but neither one of
them seems to care. Why did Cersei say no?
Because she doesn’t want to get caught, she does want to have sex with him, just not to get
caught. The risk and political fallout is too great for her.
Jaime doesn’t care about anything, Cersei was afraid to get caught, and both of them forgot that
Joffrey was lying there dead.
This was the last time that they had sex in the books.
Why did Jaime turn down oral sex from Cersei the time after? Because that was the only place
that’s actually sacred to Jaime, so he would not defile that. And he knows that she is not doing it
for him, she has an ulterior motive and saying goodbye.
Inspiration: Bill Clinton and Monica having oral sex in the oval office. People were scandalized
cuz of where it took place.

Maybe he will be the person to kill Cersei, or save one of the Starks.

The Red Wedding

The most notorious episode (so far) in all the books and episodes, the sheer savagery is shocking.

This was inspired from Greek myths:

 Zeus Xenios and Hermes with Philemon and Baucis. They alone showed hospitality to
the gods and they alone were in spared in the flood that followed.
 After Thyesters cuckolded his brother Atreus, Atreus fed him his sons in a pie

Pov patterning of Red Wedding. ABAB (Cat, Arya, Cat, Arya). This is the only time this pattern
appears in Storm of Swords, but also appears in Clash of Kings between Tyrion and Sansa
during Battle of black water

The ABAB pattern builds suspense by counterpointing Arya’s hope with Catelyn’s fear. The
pattern also allows GRRM to present both the atrocity within the castle and the massacre of the
common soldiers in the tents outside. Arya sees 3500 of her countrymen burned alive.
“Catelyn 6” describes the arrival at the Twins, “Catelyn 7” describes the slaughter. Both capters
are full of ominous clouds
 Weather is foul. The river is swollen, causing Robb to take a detour and arrive late.
Nature herself is saying “don’t go there”
 Grey Wind snarls at the Frey’s. Grey Wind also warns not to go there
 Ryman Frey tells Robb there is not enough food to feed his man. They will have to make
do with drink outside. Walder plans to get the men drunk so they can’t fight back
 Roslin Frey, Edmure’s bride, keeps crying in the book. Cat thinks she is unhappy or
nervous about the arranged marriage
o Why is she crying? Are her tears a warning?
o Demure was dreading his bride would be ugly. Why does Walder give him an
attractive bride?
o Cat was suspicious that Roslin is barren, but that’s not true. Walder wants her to
be pregnant as soon as possible so they can kill Edmure and take over Riverrun
 Olyvar Frey was devoted to Robb, but he is not at the Wedding
 When the minstrels start to play “Rains of Castamere” (Lannister song), Cat feels chain
mail under Edwyn Frey’s clothes. The attack starts right after
 GoT “Catelyn 9” roose Bolton warns Robb not to go into the Twins alone. If he does,
“you’re his,” Walder Frey “can… Slit your throat” P. 536 This is ironic when we
remember who does finally slit Robb’s throat
 Five pages later, Walder tells Cat that Aryn apologized for rejecting the fostering
 Dany’s vision of a boy with a wolf head

Catelyn misses the “mayhaps” because she has been anxious to get food inside them so they will
enjoy guest right. Walder’s “mayhaps a sausage” makes her feels safe. But just because you are
eating food, doesn’t mean that you are safe

The song “Rains of Castamere” was never actually sung during the Red Wedding, the musicians
were playing it, but the lyrics were not sung, but being thought about by Catelyn.

The intended irony was that the song was a Lannister song, and it would be played for Walder to
taunt Robb and announce that he stands with the Lannister’s, but what Walder doesn’t recognize
is that he also prophesized the death of his own house

Dany and the East

Edward Said’s influential book, Orientalism faulted Western depictions of the east for being
patronizing and salacious, marveling and despising at the same time. Does this criticism apply to
GRRM?

- The easy rebuttal: ASIAF is fantasy. Essos is not Egypt or Iraq. Is this an adequate
defence? Does it come at a price (fantasy is irrelevant)? GRRM does use orientalist
tropes (pyramids, domes, slave markets, sorcery etc)
- The names also have an oriental ring to them Astapor, Yunkai, Meereen – just think of
Dany taking AYM into the Bay
 - JRR Tolkien has also been accused of racism due to his demonizing of dark skinned
Haradrim, Easterlings, and Southrons. Why do dark-skinned people always serve “the
Dark Lord”? Is it the case in JRRT’s fiction that “you only have to look at them to know
which side they are on?”
- The Ghiscari culture of Slaver’s Bay is not all “oriental”. Both the language and the
culture are rooted in Old Valyria (Dany’s ancestors). Some features resemble ancient
Rome. The tokar looks and sounds like the toga. The fighting pits resemble rome’s
gladiatorial games
- We should also be wary of assuming that slavery is an “oriental” institution. Egypt had
slaves, but so did Greece and Rome. Slaver’s Bay might be in Essos, but it continues a
Valyrian institution.
o Astapor – military slaves
o Yunkai – sex slaves
o Meereen – manual labour

Why is Dany so against slavery?

- She was brought up in Bravvos, but she remembers a red door and lemon tree, but lemon
tree shouldn’t be able to grow there
- Fan theory is that she was actually somewhere else but not Bravvos
- Might just be inconsistency
- Westeros and Bravvos forbid slavery (as does Pentos, officially), but most of the Free
Cities buy and sell slaves and Dany’s Vlyrian ancestors (before Aegon’s conquest) were
curel slave owners. Illyrio Mopatis has prospered from the slave trade and Jorah tried to.
- Maybe she hates slavery because she grew up in Braavos, founded by runaway slaves.
(Or did she? There are no lemon trees in Braavos). But she has no scruples until she sees
the Dothraki raping the Lhazareen. Drogo intended to fund her invasion of Westeros by
selling these slaves
- People think she hates slavery because Viserys “sold” her to Khal Drogo, but
o She was not sold, it was an arranged marriage
o Like Cat (and unlike Lysa) she loved her husband. Is GRRM just relying on the
reader’s assent that slavery is bad?
o There is another problem with Dany’s common on page 267. She asks her
question “do you know what it’s like to be sold. Squire?” not as a condemnation
of slavery but as justification for her wanting to buy the Unsullied. Arstan has just
advised her not to arrive in Westeros at the head of a slave army. The Westerosi
will no like it. Her reply is not (as fans often suppose) “I hate slavery because…”
but “do you know what it is like?”
- “what do you know about oppression?” is not the same as “I must end oppression”
- Dany’s relationship with Irri
o Is it a consensual relationship, or exploitative?
o Irri might be with Dany willingly, she was given to Dany as a slave.
o And the wording of “handmaid” signifies a position of authority
 Technically there is not consent in that case
o Similar content seen in The Persian Boy and The Handmaid’s tale

Dany’s hypocrisy
 - The Unsullied are still Dany’s slaves when she orders them to kill the Masters. Is this a
problem?
o Getting slaves to kill her slave masters when she is a slave master herself

- The Unsullied are a slave army, partly modelled on the mamluk Turks. Muslin slave
warriors who defeated the hitherto invincible Mongols at Ain Jalut.
- The other model for the Unsullied is the Spartans. They were free, but could not have
been such badass warriors without their helots.
“every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its
circumstances are special, that it has a misson to enlighten, civilize, bring order and democracy,
and that it uses force only as the last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing
intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires, as if one shouldn’t trust the
evidence of one’s eyes watching the destruction and the misery and death brought by the latest
mission civilizatrice” – Edward Said, Orientalism

Dany’s rold as “Mhysa” (Mother) resonates with western imperialist iconography.

- The most controversial scene in HBO season 3: golden-haired Daenerys being
worshipped like a goddess by her dark-skinned subjects. How free are you if you are
worshipping the white saviour?
- Does Daenerys’ crusade against slavery reaffirm the very sustem of oppression it
supposedly overthrows? Does Mhysa sound uncomfortably close to “massah”?
- Infantilizing
- “crusade” a bad word to use in this context
o “crusade” against slavery? GRRM does not use that word, but George W. Bush
did “This crusade this war on terrorism, is going to take a while.” He was
criticized (especially in Europe) for using a word that seemed to identify all of
Islam as the enemy.
o Is GRRM aware of the irony?
o Dany was absent from the books for eleven years 2000-2011, which happen to be
the years when the US was embroiled in foreign military adventures that many
Americans now regret as a tragic waste.
o The phrase “battle for hearts and minds” appeared in many headlines after the
2003 invasion of Iraq. GRRM was a conscientious objector in that conflict
- If the “hearts and minds” thing isn’t working, you can always fall back on “shock and
awe” with Dany’s Dragons
- Why do things go wrong for Dany in Slaver’s bay? Because she uses too much force or
too little? Steven Attewell argues that Dany’s mistake is that she feels to kill all the
Masters in Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen.

The Purple Wedding

The name “purple wedding” never appears in the books, it was given by fans, not GRRM, but the
name stuck, because of the parallels and contrasts with the Red Wedding.
Similarities:
 Both are dynastic marriages intended to reconcile estranged noble Houses. The Tyrells
had been allied with renly. The reconciled with the Lannisters (recognizing Joffrey as
king) only after Stannis murdered Renly. Joffrey’s wedding to Renly’s widow meant to
seal the alliance.
 In both weddings, one of the supposedly reconciled Houses betrays the other, violating
the sacred laws of hospitality that bind host and guest
 The song “Rains of Castamere” is played at both weddings

Contrasts
 The red wedding was intended to shock. Joffrey’s murder was meant to look like an
accident
 The red wedding is a crime of host against guest. The purple wedding is a crime of guest
against host
 Everyone knows who committed the red wedding. Cersei instantly realizes that Joffrey
was murdered but blames the wrong people
 The build-up to the Red wedding is full of ominous portents. The purple wedding comes
as a surprise – for who?

There is one subtle hint. One of the 77 courses is a coffin pie (p. 675)

Tywin’s wedding gift to Joffrey, the sword Widow’s Wail, makes Tyrion realize that Joffrey sent
the catspaw to kill Bran. Why does GRRM time this revelation to coincide with Joffrey’s
murder?

Who killed Joffrey and how? Who was in on it? What is Littlefinger’s role in Olenna’s plan?
Was Margaery in on the plan? It appears that she knew enough to know when the cup is
poisoned and when it isn’t, and where to put it so it could be poisoned.

Why is Cersei suspicious? Why does she instantly suspect Tyrion? Why does she fear him?
She knew of a prophecy that she believes is about Tyrion that made her treat him this way.
Cersei has a flashback memory of an encounter that took place when she was 10 years old. It
changed her life and has haunted her ever since. She went to visit an old fortune teller called
“Maggy the frog” and woman from Essos who practises blood magic. She is great grandmother
of Jeyne Westerling.

Which Shakespear play inspired Cersei’s visit? Macbeth. They both received good and bad
prophecies. They ignored or tried to prevent the bad ones.

Cersei’s friend Melara asks if she will marry Jaime, Cersei goes “hands off bitch” and
presumably pushes her into the well to drown. On her walk of shame, cersei sees a young girl
gazing at her with Melara’s “accusing eyes”

Cersei’s questions:
“when will I marry the prince?” answer: “never, you’ll marry the king”
“I will be queen tho?” answer: “yea, till a younger and more beautiful girl cast you down and
take all that you hold dear” Cersei: “I’ll get my brother to kill her” (snow white much?)
“will the king and I have children?” answer: “six to ten for him, and three for you. And when
your tears have drowned you, the valonqar shall wrap his hands about your pale white throat and
choke the life from you”
She later learns that Valonqar means “little brother”, so she fears him. And Margaery is the girl
that is younger and more beautiful, but it’s actually Daenerys. Or possibly Sansa. Or Leanna
from her grave. Or Arya, she’s got a list of people to kill and she’s been successful so far, and
the queen is on that list.

The younger brother could be Gendry as he has two older sisters.

A+J=T

Aerys + Joanna = Tyrion

 Tyrion’s hair and eyes. “One green eye and one black one under lank fall of hair so blond
it seemed white.” Platinum blonde hair is a Targaryen trait. The green eye is a Lannister
trait, but the black might be dark purple
 Since childhood, Tyrion has had vivid dragon dreams. He would stare at the fireplace in
Casterly Rock for hours, imagining dragon flames. Daenerys has also had dragon dreams
since childhood.
 The dragon has three heads. This statement often recurs in the books. Dany in House of
the Undying Ones hears Rhaegar say “there must be a third”. Three riders for three
dragons. So who might be the third? Tyrion is the best candidate.
 Like Jon, Tyrion sometimes looks like a king or is hailed as one. “When he opened the
door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment
Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king” Dramatic irony if Tyrion is literally a bastard. His
shadow also matters. Compare Varys’ words to Tyrion when he explains his riddle:
“Ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow” – shadows are a recurrent
image in the story. Tyrion – means little king
 All three of the mothers died in childbirth. Dany’s, Jon’s, and Tyrion’s.
 Tywin’s last words: “you are no son of mine” does he mean it literally or is it just a figure
of speech?
o He wouldn’t announce it to the world that Tyrion isn’t his son, because he loved
his wife and she had a good grasp over him.
 Tywin’s reply when Tyrion asks to name him “your son and your lawful heir”: “you ask
that? You, who killed your mother to come into the world? … Men’s law give you the
right to bear my name and display my colours, since I cannot prove that you are not
mine.”
 Old scandal about King Aerys and Joanna: “as a youth, he was taken with a certain lady
of Casterly Rock, a cousin of Tywin Lannister. When she and Tywin wed, your father
drank too much wine at the wedding feast and wa heard to say that it was a great pity that
the lord’s right to the first night has been abolished. A drunken jape, no more, but Tywin
 Lannister was not a man to forget such words, or the… the liberties your father took
during the bedding.”

We should not assume that Tywin knows the truth.

Genghis Khan’s Jochi was barred from the Mongol succession because there was doubt as to his
paternity. This quarrel split the Mongol empire.
When Tywin said “you are my son” in GoT, people thinks that this proves that Tyrion is his legit
son. But this might not be true cuz earlier he said “they have my son” when he heard Jaime is
taken. In both times, he speaks as if he has just one son.

Jaime’s own paternity has been questioned by Tywin as well as he also said “you are not my
son”

Some argues that Tywin saying that to both Jaime and Tyrion proves that they are both
legitimate. But Tywin’s sister, Genna, asks “who will protect us now”, Jaime says “he left a son”
meaning himself, not including Tyrion. She says that “Tyrion is Tywin’s son, not you.” (FC)
 Some argue that Mad King Aerys fathered Jaime and Cersie
 Some say that she meant “you don’t take after Tywin. His other son does”

Religion in A Song of Ice and Fire

GRRM has described himself as an agnostic leaning toward atheism. This makes him unlike the
Christian JRR Tolkien, but also unlike the atheist Phillip Pullman. The gods are real in GRRM’s
fiction, but no one religion has a monopoly on the truth. Melisandre can resurrect the dead, but
she still makes mistakes.

A list of Gods:

 The Old Gods

o Worshipped throughout the North and beyond the Wall. They also have a site on
the Isle of Faces in the Gods Eye where the mysterious Green Men tend a
weirwood grove. The Children of the Forest and the First Men signed a pact on
this island.
 The Faith of the Seven
o A lot like the roman catholic church in the middle ages
 The Drowned God
o Worshipped only in the Iron Islands
 Cult of R’hllo, Lord of light
 The Many Faced God
 The Great Stallion
 Mother Rhoyne
 The Valyrian Gods
 Black Goat of Qohor