CHAPTER 4 SUMMARY
Robert Baratheon, King of Westeros, and Ned Stark, Lord of Winterfell, were once really good friends. The closest description that George R. R. Martin has gotten to actual ages is that Rob and Ned are no longer super-attractive 20-something-year-olds at the peak of their physical prowess. (Robert's physical decline is especially noticeable, apparently; he seems to have swung from "20-something with washboard abs" to "40/50 something with several chins"). In private, as Robert visits the grave of Ned's sister, the two discuss Ned becoming the Hand of the King. This sounds like basically the worst job ever - the king just gets to do whatever he chooses, and the Hand of the King is the one who actually gets it done. You could say that the King is the brain and the Hand is the brawn, but it seems a bit more complicated than that.
At the end of the chapter, Robert mentions that Joffrey and Sansa should get married, so the Baratheon and stark houses can properly be united. (It would seem that Rob marrying Ned's sister, Lyanna, would have done that, but then she died.) Anyway, he says their children don't have to get married yet, since Sansa is 11 and Joffrey is 12, but they should at least be engaged. Somehow this doesn't seem like a good idea.
QUESTIONS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
1. Did the relationship between Rob and Ned deteriorate because they landed in two different environments, or did something else happen?
2. If Rob and Ned have barely spoken since they helped Rob take the Iron Throne, why does Rob trust Ned so much?
3. What is the point of the Hand of the King position? Is this some kind of advisor, or was the role created by someone who wanted to run the throne without ACTUALLY having the responsibility of the throne?
4. When was the Hand of the King created? Is it something that Aerys Targaryen had when he was king? Is it something Rob brought up?
OTHER CHARACTERS MENTIONED HERE:
Tyrion Lannister - called "The Imp," because he is super clever and he is a Little Person (not some High Fantasy Archetype of someone three inches tall - Tyrion is a human whose endocrine gland didn't release enough growth hormones).
Cersei Lannister - Rob's wife. Jamie's twin. Apparently she turns out to be one of the strongest women in the series.
Jamie Lannister - Cersei's twin brother. Is he the Kingkiller?
Sandor Clegane
Tywin Lannister
Lysa Arrys
Rickard Stark - Ned's father, deceased
Brandon Stark - Ned's brother, deceased
Lyanna Stark - Ned's sister, formerly engaged to Robert Barantheon; she asked to be buried in the Stark crypt and not among the Barantheons
Aerys Targaryen - the Mad King whom Rob overthrew. Interesting other side to how Viserys sees the overthrowing.
CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY
At the welcoming feast for the royal family, Jon Snow is excluded from the Table of Important People because Robert might take offense to the bastard. (Seeing as Rob appears as the sort of man who has fathered a lot of bastards, I don't think he'd mind, but that's just me). Jon is not part of the Main Table, and that is that.
This gives him the chance to talk to Benjen Stark, Ned's brother and a member of the Night's Watch. Jon wants to join the Watch, but Ben essentially tells Jon that Jon is too young, too drunk, and still a virgin, so Jon has no idea what he's missing. Ben also tells Jon to get older and get laid, and then to consider joining.
This upsets Jon, who goes outside, followed by his direwolf, Ghost. Tyrion Lannister follows, and it becomes LIFE ADVICE CORNER WITH TYRION LANNISTER: that Jon should make being a bastard his armor, not his weakness, so it could never hurt him. Tyrion also says that "not all bastards need to be dwarfs," which is kind of important.
QUESTIONS:
1. is there an age limit on joining the Night's Watch?
2. What does Tyrion do in his spare time?
Showing posts with label Jon Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jon Snow. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Game of Thrones Post 1: Prologue and Chapter 1 (no POV and Bran)
SUMMARY OF PROLOGUE
There are three guys named Will, Gared, and Ser Waymar Royce, who are going through the forest. They are, apparently, members of the Night Watch. Will and Gared have lots of experience and Royce, an 18-year-old noble, doesn't have so much. Guess which one's in charge? (If you said "Gared the 50-something-year-old man who has over 40 years of experience and would be the logical choice to head something like this," guess again. If you guessed "the 18-year-old lordling," you are correct). Royce frustrates me. He's the sort of guy who might say things like "being scared is for sissies. Don't make a fire when it's well below freezing and there's snow on the ground. Fires are for sissies."
Of course, Royce is the first casualty in Game of Thrones. He is struck down by an "Other," which either kills him or turns him into a zombie-Other; it's hard to tell which. (Well, to be fair, you have to be dead to be a zombie, so maybe they killed him and made him a zombie-Other). What the crap is an "Other," anyway? I assume "Other" is capitalized because that's the name of the kind of creature - sort of like how Elves can be capitalized in Lord of the Rings. From what I can tell, the Others are some kind of super-deadly, super-mysterious ice monster thing.
At any rate, Royce is definitely the first to collapse, but he turns into an Other-type thing and kills Will. Gared is nowhere to be found.
QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE PROLOGUE:
1. WHY IS AN 18-YEAR-OLD NOOB GIVEN AUTHORITY OVER A 50-SOMETHING WITH 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE?
2. WHY DOESN'T SAID 18-YEAR-OLD NOOB RESPECT THE WISDOM OF SOMEONE WITH LITERALLY DECADES MORE EXPERIENCE?
3. WHAT THE CRAP IS AN "OTHER?"
4. WHERE THE CRAP IS GARED AT THE END?
BRAN'S CHAPTER
There are several Stark children - in this chapter, you know there are five (plus Jon Snow the bastard and Theo Greyjoy the ward), but you only meet Robb (14), Jon (14), and Bran (7); Rickon (3) is also mentioned. Ned Stark, the head of the family, has to kill some guy for treason. There's an interesting passage here about how kings become too separated from death if they hire out executioners.
SPOILER SIDE NOTE (highlight over the text to see what it says):
I find it interesting that Ned dies by execution. Not sure the circumstances, but keep that in mind.
END SPOILER SIDE NOTE
Anyway, at the end of the chapter Jon finds a litter of five abandoned direwolves. This may be significant because the sigil of the Stark household, Winterfell, is a direwolf. Jon finds himself an albino direwolf to take care of, and he and Robb insist that the kids are capable of raising the direwolves on their own. Ned agrees, so long as the kids do it and not anyone else.
QUESTIONS RAISED BY THIS CHAPTER:
1. Ned mentions to Bran that they are descended from the First People, or something like that. According to My Roommate the GoT History Buff, the First People are important because they're a different species of people than the rest of the world. Like Homo Erectus vs. Homo Sapiens, or something? Anyway, will this be explored?
2. Why are they trusting the care of direwolves to kids 14 and younger? They say themselves that direwolves are bigger than the normal wolves - possibly bigger than Bran's pony. Sure, they're only pups, but 3-year-old Rickon won't be able to actually direct the direwolf, and Ned said that none of the staff should be involved with the raising of the direwolves. HOW THE CRAP IS A 3-YEAR-OLD GOING TO RAISE A DIREWOLF?
3. What's the deal with Bran having to see the death?
There are three guys named Will, Gared, and Ser Waymar Royce, who are going through the forest. They are, apparently, members of the Night Watch. Will and Gared have lots of experience and Royce, an 18-year-old noble, doesn't have so much. Guess which one's in charge? (If you said "Gared the 50-something-year-old man who has over 40 years of experience and would be the logical choice to head something like this," guess again. If you guessed "the 18-year-old lordling," you are correct). Royce frustrates me. He's the sort of guy who might say things like "being scared is for sissies. Don't make a fire when it's well below freezing and there's snow on the ground. Fires are for sissies."
Of course, Royce is the first casualty in Game of Thrones. He is struck down by an "Other," which either kills him or turns him into a zombie-Other; it's hard to tell which. (Well, to be fair, you have to be dead to be a zombie, so maybe they killed him and made him a zombie-Other). What the crap is an "Other," anyway? I assume "Other" is capitalized because that's the name of the kind of creature - sort of like how Elves can be capitalized in Lord of the Rings. From what I can tell, the Others are some kind of super-deadly, super-mysterious ice monster thing.
At any rate, Royce is definitely the first to collapse, but he turns into an Other-type thing and kills Will. Gared is nowhere to be found.
QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE PROLOGUE:
1. WHY IS AN 18-YEAR-OLD NOOB GIVEN AUTHORITY OVER A 50-SOMETHING WITH 40 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE?
2. WHY DOESN'T SAID 18-YEAR-OLD NOOB RESPECT THE WISDOM OF SOMEONE WITH LITERALLY DECADES MORE EXPERIENCE?
3. WHAT THE CRAP IS AN "OTHER?"
4. WHERE THE CRAP IS GARED AT THE END?
BRAN'S CHAPTER
There are several Stark children - in this chapter, you know there are five (plus Jon Snow the bastard and Theo Greyjoy the ward), but you only meet Robb (14), Jon (14), and Bran (7); Rickon (3) is also mentioned. Ned Stark, the head of the family, has to kill some guy for treason. There's an interesting passage here about how kings become too separated from death if they hire out executioners.
SPOILER SIDE NOTE (highlight over the text to see what it says):
I find it interesting that Ned dies by execution. Not sure the circumstances, but keep that in mind.
END SPOILER SIDE NOTE
Anyway, at the end of the chapter Jon finds a litter of five abandoned direwolves. This may be significant because the sigil of the Stark household, Winterfell, is a direwolf. Jon finds himself an albino direwolf to take care of, and he and Robb insist that the kids are capable of raising the direwolves on their own. Ned agrees, so long as the kids do it and not anyone else.
QUESTIONS RAISED BY THIS CHAPTER:
1. Ned mentions to Bran that they are descended from the First People, or something like that. According to My Roommate the GoT History Buff, the First People are important because they're a different species of people than the rest of the world. Like Homo Erectus vs. Homo Sapiens, or something? Anyway, will this be explored?
2. Why are they trusting the care of direwolves to kids 14 and younger? They say themselves that direwolves are bigger than the normal wolves - possibly bigger than Bran's pony. Sure, they're only pups, but 3-year-old Rickon won't be able to actually direct the direwolf, and Ned said that none of the staff should be involved with the raising of the direwolves. HOW THE CRAP IS A 3-YEAR-OLD GOING TO RAISE A DIREWOLF?
3. What's the deal with Bran having to see the death?
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