Game of Thrones Post 3: 4 and 5 (Eddard and Jon)

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?

Game of Thrones Post 2: chapter 2 and 3 (Caetlyn and Daenerys)

To recap what we learned last week:
- death is a thing that happens
- Others are creepy
- First People are apparently Different People than the Rest Of Westeros's People
- Stark kings need to kill people in person
- people don't trust direwolves


ON TO THIS WEEK'S POST!

Caetlyn's chapter
Caetlyn, originally of House Tully and married into House Stark, seems to be an expositional character. She finds Ned (her husband) in the godswood after killing the dude mentioned in Bran's chapter. It seems that a godswood is a forest dedicated to prayer, it seems. One tree of importance seems to be the weirwood tree, which has had a face carved into it for a very long time. (No clues to why there is a face carved into the tree, or why most of the other weirwood trees have been, according to the text, "cut down or burned out a thousand years ago... Up here [in the north] it was different. Here every castle had its godswood, and every godswood had its heart tree, and every heart tree its face").
Other things that are established in this chapter:
- Ned asks about the kids first
- "Winter is coming" is an unusual phrase for Family Words; apparently, the Starks are the only family not to talk about honor, glory, loyalty, etc.
- "beyond the Wall" is something nobody wants to hear as a destination - no clues to why, but still.
- more information about the Others: that they have been gone for eight thousand years, like the children of the forest.
- Jon Arryn is dead. Apparently this is a bad thing - he is Ned's brother-in-law, married to Caetlyn's sister.
- Ned had apparently been fostered with Robert Baratheon
- Robert Baratheon is KING (of... what, exactly?) and is COMING TO VISIT NED

QUESTIONS:
- who the crap are the children of the forest?
- why is Robert coming to visit Ned?
- are we at the inciting action yet?


DAENERYS
NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
Apparently, from what I can gather, 13-year-old Daenerys and her brother, Viserys, may or may not be descended from dragons. They have purple eyes, an affinity for dragons, and their family has copulated amongst siblings to "keep the family pure," or something; since dragons don't have sex with common farm animals, neither should the Targaryens. Apparently, Daenerys is about to break that cycle, because Viserys is about to marry her off to Khal Drogo, who is Dothraki. Viserys is marrying his 13-year-old sister to a man with an army because Viserys demands REVENGE. Since the Usurper and the Kingslayer had killed the Targaryen rulers (the parents of Dany and Viserys), Viserys can't get over the defeat and needs VENGEANCE. So he marries his 13-year-old sister off to a non-Targaryen with 40,000 warriors, because VENGEANCE.
Viserys also mentions that he would let his sister endure some very unpleasant sexual things if it meant getting the 40,000 warriors on his side.
I hope he gets smited. He seems like an ass.
I can see where Viserys is coming from - he's styled himself as a beggar king because he and Dany are essentially homeless after their entire family was killed, and it's EVERYONE ELSE'S FAULT. But, personally, I'd try not to alienate my only living relative before I got my 40,000-man army.

MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER:
Illyro of Pentos - master of one of the Nine Free Cities; current host to Daenerys and Viserys
The Usurper and the Kingslayer - the Kingslayer is Jamie Lannister (I think), who killed Dad Targaryen; the Usurper is Robert Barantheon, who took the throne later.
Ser Jorah Mormont - this is a knight amongst the Dothraki. Since this is a rare occurrence, I'm including him. He may become imporant.
Khal Drogo - Dany's future husband.

QUESTIONS:
- who are the Dothraki?
- Why is Ser Jorah among the Dothraki? What did he do to make the Usurper want his head?
- Why did he go to the Dothraki?
- How do the Dothraki feel about this?
- Will Viserys succeed?