Game of Thrones: Chapter 16: Eddard AKA Truth & Justice?

This chapter opens with Eddard being told that Arya has been found by Jory after being missing for the last four days. Turns out both she and Mycah ran off after what happened at the Trident with Joffrey.

Arya was taken directly to the King once Jorry and her arrived. We also learn that they entire group has moved to the castle of Ser Raymun Darry who had actually fought against Robert in the rebellion. Tensions are running high as it’s just an unusual and uncomfortable situation.

But before going on lets take a closer look at House Darry and why tensions are so high.

First the Darrys were Targaryen loyalists and did very well under the old regime. As said before during Robert’s Rebellion they fought on the side of the king and against the Rebels who included House Tully the liege lords of the Riverlands.  

Being on the wrong side of History cost the Darry’s greatly. Ser Raymun lost three of his older brothers at the battle of the Trident where Robert famously slew Rhaegar Targaryen. In addition to this it was Ser Willem Darry who also smuggled Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen from Dragonstone to Braavos effectively keeping them out of the reach of King Robert.

The loss of family wasn’t the only thing House Darry suffered as a result of Robert winning his Rebellion. They also lost half of the lands they held, a great deal of their wealth and nearly all of their power.

House Darry was so loyal to the Targaryens that Viserys names them specifically as one of the houses he can count on to support him upon his return to Westeros.

So things are pretty tense as there is a lot of bad blood between the hosts and clearly the uninvited guests.

Regardless Ned finds Arya with Robert and the rest of the court in the Darry audience hall. Arya is in the center of the room with Jorry when Ned enters. Fortunately she isn’t hurt and we learn she was just living off wild berries for the last few days.

Robert asked that Arya be brought before him immediately as he wanted to get things taken care of as quickly as possible. Most likely this is born of the uncomfortable situation of being hosted under House Darry that was his foe just a few years prior.

Here we learn that Joffrey lied about what happened days prior. He is present and his arm is in a bandage from the wound inflicted by Nymeria. Joffrey claims that Arya and the butcher's boy attacked him with sticks while Nymeria was set upon him. This is of course different from Arya’s version of the events.

Renley actually laughs when Arya relates that Joffrey was disarmed. He gets kicked out by his older brother Robert but on his way out he bows to Joffrey and does manage to deliver a really good line before departing.

Renley: “Perchance you’ll tell me how a nine-year-old girl the size of a wet rat managed to disarm you with a broom handle and throw your sword into the river.”

The only other person who was present and is brought forth is Sansa. Ned knows the truth of what happened as Sansa told him prior. Sansa however says she doesn't know what happened as it all happened so quickly and she didn’t see.

This ticks off Arya who calls Sansa a liar and attacks her. Arya is quickly pulled off and Robert decides he had enough of this and decides that no real lasting harm was done and chalks it up to children just being children. He decides that Ned should discipline Arya and he will do the same with his son.

Cersei is not happy and asks about the dire wolf that attacked Joffrey. Jory says that he found no trace of Nymeria, which seems to satisfy Robert. Cersei offers a reward to whomever brings her the pelt of Nymeria and Robert doesn’t feel like paying for it and tells her she can pay for it herself.

Cersei shows how her influence over Robert works in this scene. She not only calls him cheap but also says the though the king she married would have laid the wolf's pelt before her by sundown. When Robert says he doesn’t have a wolf Cersei knows she has him and points out they do have a wolf. She of course is referring to Lady.

After a bit more of discussion and argument it is decided that they will put Lady down as punishment. This is of course upsetting to all the Starks who feel this is an injustice as Lady wasn't even present.

King Robert: “Enough, Ned, I will hear no more. A direwolf is a savage beast. Sooner or later it would have turned on your girl as the other did on my son. Get her a dog, she’ll be happier for it.”

This actually brings a smile to Joffrey’s face. He is described as “beaming” at the decision. In the end Ned does the deed himself, but he denies Cersei her prize by instructing Jory to have four of the Stark men to take the body of Lady back to the north and bury her at Winterfell.

The chapter ends with Ned coming across Sandor Clegane as he returns with the body of Mycha wrapped up and slung over the back of his horse. Ned looks at the body and notes that Sandor rode the boy down nearly cutting him in half.

So a few things in this.. First the demand for a wolf pelt from Cersei seems to harken back to the first Tyrion Chapter:

“The queen shuddered. “There is something unnatural about those animals,” she said. “They are dangerous. I will not have any of them coming south with us.”

So it seems Cersei has been looking for a chance to be rid of the Direwolves and certainly took this opportunity as it presented itself. This again continues to show that the Queen and Joffrey are more interested in flexing and abusing their power than they are in justice.

Perhaps Cersei sees this as asserting dominance over the Starks. The notion being that perhaps if she sets the expectation that they are there to serve her and the rest of the royal family without question things will go easier. That this is the first real disagreement that wasn’t handled between Ned and Robert is of some significance and maybe Cersei just wants to make sure the Starks understand that message. She could have been counting on Sansa to not be truthful as it may put her betrothal to Joffrey at risk. In such a case the only one who would have been able to prove Joffrey a liar would have been Mycah who we know was killed by the Hound.

In the prior chapter we have the following quote:

Joffrey: “He’s my mother’s dog, in truth. She has set him to guard me, and so he does.”

So perhaps The Hound was sent out with orders to kill Mycah instead of bringing him back.

Also Roberts words of “Get her a dog, she'll be happier for it.” is a bit of foreshadowing to Sandor’s interactions with Sansa in the future as he becomes her protector in some instances.

Lastly what I think most readers miss is what Jory did for Arya.

The king stopped, turned back and frowned. “I’d forgotten about the damned wolf.”

Ned could see Arya tense in Jory’s arms. Jory spoke up quickly “We found no trace of the direwolf your grace.”

Robert did not look unhappy “No? So be it.”

Now all of the Stark children are rarely ever mentioned in the book without the direwolves near by at this point in the story. Hence the reason for Arya becoming tense as Nymeria is still free. It seems Jory has lied about Nymeria.

Game of Thrones: Chapter 15: Sansa AKA Awkward 1st Date

This chapter opens up with Sansa having breakfast with Septa Mordane. She is all set to spend the day traveling the King’s Road south to the capital riding in style with Queen Cersei and Princess Marcella in the royal wheelhouse.  Notably absent is Arya who was also invited. Early on it’s clear that Sansa is already smitten with her betrothed Joffrey. She is a bit worried that Arya might spoil the occasion as she tends to be less of a lady and more of a tomboyish sort. After finishing her breakfast she eventually finds Arya by the banks of the Trident with her direwolf dressed in leathers. Sansa tells her sister she is expected to travel with the queen today and Arya flat out refuses. She says her and a friend Mycah are going to spend the day looking for rubies that were knocked off the armor of Rhaegar Targaryen when King Robert killed him during the rebellion.

Here we see a lot of the differences in the mentalities of the two Stark girls. While Sansa is concerned about appearances, decorum and possibly the opportunity to spend a bit of time with the prince she is to wed and somewhat head over heels for, Araya has no interest in any of that.

Arya by comparison seem to have a much better working knowledge of recent history. Sansa had no idea what rubies Arya was referring to when she told her older sister what her plans for the day were. Arya is also not concerned about offending the queen by not showing up as expected. She has more of a free will and is less likely to worry about what others may think as opposed to Sansa who is very much into keeping up appearances.

I think even more telling is that Sansa doesn’t take the time to look upon the land and get to know it as Arya has. To her it’s just one field, farm and holdfast after another. She doesn’t really see the nuances of the land like Arya appreciates. Arya points out that she found 36 types of flowers she never had seen prior as well as relating she had seen wild horse herds as well as a haunted watchtower and she and her friend also found a lizard-lion.

Another difference in the two is the way in which they react to their father's instructions to stay with the column. Sansa dutifully obeys while Arya reasons that as they dont travel very far and has her direwolf Nymeria to protect her.

Sansa also by admission hates riding and even more hates the situation as the journey through the swampy area known as the Neck was unpleasant to her. Arya on the other hand enjoyed it and even seems to be relishing the opportunity to explore and discover more of the world she lives in.

Another great difference between the two is that Arya seems to be making friends and getting to know the people she is traveling with. Sansa can’t understand this mentality and even notes that Arya’s friend Mycah, the son of a butcher, is terrible as he stinks of meat from the chopping block and can hardly stand the sight of him. Yet Arya has a genuine friendship and enjoys his company.

One thing that Sansa noted at bedtime is that Arya has bruises and welts on her arms, shoulders. This suggests she either has had some rough times exploring or has found someone to practice her swordsmanship with.

The two end in a sort of typical fashion of Arya saying she is gonna go off and do her own thing while Sansa tries to make her jealous by saying that they are gonna have a wonderful time relaxing, and traveling in style and luxury.

While Arya seems to be fine with this Sansa is a bit hurt as she doesn't understand why Arya can’t do what is expected of her and act like a proper lady. To Sansa where decorum and etiquette as well as appearances are things that matter a great deal, Arya’s complete disregard for such things and even outright rude manner on occasion reflects badly upon her. After all the Starks are the the nobility of the North and Arya seems to act like a commoner as opposed to someone who is highborn.

As she returns to camp she notices a crowd has gathered and as she gets closer she sees Cersei greeting a group of knights who had been sent by the council. We learn that King Robert has gone off hunting and thus the queen is there to welcome them. One of the knights is older and dressed in white while the younger one has a helm with decorative antlers upon it. The third knight's appearance Sansa finds scary and she actually physically shakes when he feels her looking at her and turns his gaze upon her.

The Hound Sandor Clegane sets his hands upon her shoulders and Sansa mistakes it for the reassuring touch of her father. So when she turns and sees Sandors burned face she momentarily loses composure.

The two new knights notice Lady and are quite taken back. Sandor makes a rather crude joke about the Starks using them for wet nurses which gets a few chuckles from the starring members of the crowd.

Cersei at this moment prompts Joffrey to go to the aid of his betrothed. It’s noteworthy that Joffrey didn’t actually think to go himself but needed to be told to go show some compassion and assist his wife to be. Joffrey sends the Hound away and Sansa says it was one of the other knights and not the Hound who unnerved her.

As it turns out that knight is Ser Ilyn Payne who is the royal executioner. Sansa quips they got the right man for the job after Cersei says people should fear the man appointed as the King’s Justice. This actually gets laughs from the crowd and Sansa seems to regain her composure.

The elder knight introduces himself as Ser Barristan Selmy of the Kingsguard. Sansa having regained her composure, is able to carry herself as would be expected and replies that she is honored to meet the living legend Barristan the Bold. The younger knight makes a joke at Selmy’s expense calling him “Barristan the Old”  and tests Sansa to guess who he is.

Sansa correctly deduces that the man before him is Renly Baratheon as he bears a stag upon his sigil, golden antlers on his helmet and notes his “extreme youth”. Barristan takes this chance to return the good natured joking by saying by Renly’s extreme youth he’s a prancing jackanapes. Again this gets a good laugh out of those gathered including Renly who takes the jest in stride as Barristan did.  

So with a bit of composure and humor the almost disastrous situation for Sansa is averted. Sansa even apologizes to Ser Ilyn who doesn’t reply. Joffrey lets her know that he had his tongue ripped out by the former king. Sansa also then learns that plans to travel with the queen and princess will have to wait as the queen will have to tend to matters of state.

The queen does however ask Prince Joffrey to entertain Sansa for the day and Joffrey replies he would be happy to. This is almost a dream come true for Sansa. She is absolutely over the moon with this turn of events. She even starts thinking that Joffrey came to her rescue a few moments ago like some fanciful tale of legends where a hero saves a damsel in distress.

Joffrey suggests going riding and Sansa says she loves to go riding. This of course is the absolute opposite of what she said to Arya, but the chance to spend time with Joffrey is worth it to her.

They leave Lady and Sandor behind and Joffrey assures her that he can protect her with his blade Lion’s Tooth if it comes to it. The two of them go out and explore some caves, track a shadowcat and end up finding a holdfast where the prince makes the residents provide them with food and wine. As they continue on Joffrey leads them towards where the battle of the Trident was fought and recounts the tale of how his father became king.

They hear sounds coming from nearby and while Sansa wants to go back Joffrey wants to go and see what it is. As it turns out it’s Arya and Mycah playing with broomstick handles pretending they are dueling swords. Joffrey laughs when Arya gets struck on the hand and drops her stick, and this gets the two of them noticed.

Joffrey taunts Mycah while holding his steel blade and challenges him. Mycah is obviously scared and protests he doesn't have a ‘real sword’ and that Arya asked him to practice. Joffrey takes this chance to bully the boy and sets the tip of his blade to Mycah’s face and draws blood.

Arya yells for Joffrey to stop, and Joffrey says he won’t hurt the butcher's boy, and then adds the word “much” rather menacingly.

Again the differences between the two Stark girls is highlighted. Sansa who was using her words and calling for Arya to stay out of it is ignored as Arya decides she isn’t going to allow her helpless friend be hurt by the prince who is wielding a steel blade. Arya cracks Joffrey in the back of the head which gives Mycah a chance to flee the situation.

Joffrey turns his blade on Arya, disarms her and backs her up to a tree. Again Sansa is somewhat helpless in this situation and just yells for the two of them to stop, but her words aren’t heeded. Arya doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter and Joffrey is enraged and yelling curses at Arya.

Fortunately Nymeria comes to the rescue of Arya before anything bad happens. She knocks Joffrey to the ground, disarming him. Again Sansa is unsure what to do and is somewhat helpless as an onlooker, but Arya who is showing she is a person who takes action spares Joffrey by calling Nymeria to her.

While Joffrey is on the ground bleeding from his arm Arya goes and picks up his sword, she stands over him and delivers what I think is one of the best lines from any character in the book to this point..

Arya “She didn’t hurt you… much.”

This reduces the prince to whimpering and he begs for her not to hurt him and that he will tell his mother. Sansa screams for Arya to leave Joffrey alone and for once Arya listens. Prior to getting on her horse and riding off with her direwolf Arya tosses the princes blade into the river.

Sansa runs to her betrothed and tries to comfort him saying she will ride to the holdfast and get help for him. Joffrey looks at her with loathing and contempt and yells at her to go and not to touch him.

This is the first chapter we see through the point of view of Sansa. Prior we got her in chapters but mostly the interaction was from the point of view of her little sister Arya. We now get the full view.

Even here we still see that while they are vastly different they both have some things in common. Sansa and Arya are both with their wolves seemingly constantly, and both the wolves seem to be direct reflections of the Stark girls. Sansa’s direwolf Lady is just that and quite domesticated, while Arya’s wolf Nymeria is first seen in this chapter all muddy and not enjoying being brushed out in a very similar way to how Sansa views Arya who had been wearing the same riding leathers for the past few days. Both wolves are there and seem to come to the defense of the owners in times of need. Sansa when she grew fearful of Ser Payne and Arya when Joffrey was attacking her.

This is also the first situation where we see Joffrey having a truly cruel nature as opposed to just being a bit of an ass. It’s noticeable that he had to be prompted by the queen to go to the aid of Sansa when she lost her composure. Further Joffrey demonstrates his lack of maturity when he whimpers before Arya threatening to tell his mother. This is all in direct contrast to his behavior prior when he was boasting about carrying a real blade instead of a practice blade as he mocked Sasna’s brother Robb back at Winterfell.

From a storytelling perspective this sets up Sansa to look somewhat helpless and to be little more than a young girl with a crush on prince Joffrey. Indeed she does project things on him that simply aren’t true. This again is understandable as Sansa has grown up as a noble and really judging things from appearances as opposed to looking deeper to see things as they really are.

Her assumptions regarding the lands they travel through, the common folk as well as her negative opinion of Mycah based on his station in life all point to her not really having a good understanding of the world and the people in it. Yet ironically enough she is remarkably perceptive in determining who Renly is and recalls the history, titles and offices of Barristan the Bold. So this suggests she does have a good head on her shoulders but is just focused in an entirely different area than her sister is.

Of course Sansa is absolutely out of her element when swords are drawn. Fighting and violence are things Sansa was never expected to engage in let alone be able to put a stop to.

Lastly I'd like to point out one final thing that will become a greater theme as the story progresses which was introduced by Renly and that is ageism. While it was just a jest about Ser Barristan calling him Barristan the Old this is something that will show up again with some level of significance.

Game of Thrones: Chapter 14: Catelyn AKA Mothers Maddness

This chapter opens up with Catelyn still sitting by Brands side. It has been about 3 weeks since he fell and 8 days since Ned and everyone else left. Maester Luwin comes in to have her attend to the affairs of running Winterfell and she just gets upset and ends up shouting at Luwin without realizing it. Fortunately Robb arrives and lets Luwin know he will handle the books and decide who should be appointed to the positions left vacant by the departure of a good number of servants with Ned to King's Landing. We also learn that Catelyn has apparently in her sadness and despair over Bran's fall lost her senses. In addition to neglecting her duties and spending every moment with Bran she didn’t bother to see her husband and rest of the family off when they left. She also doesn’t trust Maester Luwin's assurances that Bran isn’t going to die, and has been ignoring her youngest son Rikkon.

Robb opens the window to let some air into the stuffy room and hearing the direwolves howl, and everything that has occurred is just overwhelming to her. I think it safe to assume she is having some sort of breakdown at this point.

This scene also offers a bit of insight about Robb. He seems to have an innate understanding that Bran hearing the howling will somehow help. In addition he can tell the differences between the wolves howls. He also quickly picks up on the fact that on this night the dogs joined in the howling and notes it’s unusual as they haven't done that before.

He also shows his concern as he helps his mother to the small bed and makes her promise him to get some sleep. Robb goes to close the window and notices the library tower is on fire and quickly sets off to fetch men to deal with it.

Catelyn closes the shutters window and when she turns around a stranger is in the room with her. The man is filthy and has a dagger in his hand. Quickly she realizes he’s here to kill Bran. She turns back to the window to call out for help but the stranger puts a hand over her mouth and brings his blade to her throat. Catelyn grabs the blade with her hand cutting deep into her fingers and bites the hand over her mouth. The stranger tosses her to the ground and is about to make a move when Brans wolf comes into the room, leaps knocking the attacker down and tears out his throat.

With that done the wolf then licks the blood off Catelyn's injured hand and then leaps up on the bed with Bran and lays down. If she wasn’t having a breakdown of some sort before this is easily the point because she starts to laugh hysterically.

NOTE: Some people have asked me how the Direwolf was able to open the doors to get to where Bran was and how it knew the assassin was going after Bran. First when Robb left the tower he more than likely didn’t bother to close the doors behind him in his haste. Not to mention the Catspaw/assassin was most likely trying to remain quiet, do the job quickly and make good his escape. So it’s unlikely he bothered to close the doors behind him as well. Further he didn’t expect Catelyn to remain with Bran.

The Catspaw: “You weren’t s’posed to be here,” he muttered sourly. “No one was s’posed to be here.”

Lastly the assassin had the stink of horses from where he had been hiding in the stables so even if there was no supernatural connection between the wolf and Bran, his scent would have easily been picked up by Bran's wolf.    

She is taken out of the room with Bran and to her own chambers where her wounds are tended to and she is put to bed and finally sleeps.. For four days..

When she wakes up Robb, Theon, the new captain of the guard Hallis Mollen and Rodrik Cassel, the Master at Arms of Winterfell discuss the events of the attack. Collectively they figure out the following.

• The assassin showed up with the king's party and was hiding out in the stables
• The killer was paid 90 silver stags and given a valyrian dagger with a dragonbone hilt for the job of killing Bran
• The fire in the library was set as a distraction and the assumption is someone wants Bran dead to keep him silent.
• Catlyn also reveals her sisters belief that the Lannisters killed Jon Arryn and recalls that Jaime Lannister didn’t go out on the hunt with the king on the day Bran fell. She speculates that Bran was actually thrown.

At the end of the discussion it is decided that Catelyn and Ser Rodrik will travel to King's Landing by riding to White Harbor and then travel via ship with hopes of getting to the capital quickly and unnoticed.

I opted to call this narrative on the Chapter "Mother's Madness" as this really is where Catelyn starts to crack and breakdown. While completely understandable her concern for her injured son, the additional physical and mental burden she places upon herself by not resting and taking care of her basic needs is not normal. Unquestionably she is in a stressful situation with her children and son leaving to head south, but the additional physical stress atop the emotional and possibly spiritual stress she feels is just far too much for her to handle.

Additionally she completely ignores Rickon her youngest son who Robb noted was also confused and dealing with abandonment issues due to the departure of nearly all his siblings. Certainly these are the most trying of times for Catelyn, and she is unable to come to her senses until after she breaks down and awakens days later.

Indeed we see that she even regrets her behavior and vows to do better in this time of need. The question is going forward is will she be able to handle the stresses and pressure of the challenges that lie ahead?

For those of you keeping count we are up to 17 dead characters so far. Still a long ways from the Twitter Punchline of 140. This is also being generous and including the 12 Dothraki who died at Dany's wedding. Short them we are only up to 5 deaths and all so far have been minor characters. But it's a long way to go.

Game of Thrones: Chapter 13: Tyrion AKA "A Mind Needs Books"

This chapter we join Tyrion who is accompanying Jon Snow, Benjen Stark and a few others north to The Wall. We get an idea of the landscape and how it changes heading north from Winterfell.

Tyrion notices Jon is put off a bit by a few of the other recruits and Yoren a member of the Night’s Watch who is not only filthy, but his hair and beard is also infested with lice. A couple of the recruits are also smelly and joining the watch to avoid the punishment for the crime of rape.

Yoren

The two converse for a bit and Jon asks  why Tyrion reads so much and Tyrion replies with one of my favorite lines from all the books.

“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind… and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”  

Tyrion also mentions that he used to dream of owning a dragon of his own when he was younger. Some people who have proposed that Tyrion is actually a Targaryen point to this as some bit of evidence. But the context he uses it in is more of how a boy pretends to be a great hero or how a kid today might dream of becoming a great athlete and not to be taken as Daenerys having dragon dreams in her prior chapter.

So for everyone that thinks this is a clue that Tyrion is somehow a secret Targaryen I think your way off on this one.

As the chapter goes on Tyrion points out to Jon what most everyone thinks of the Night’s Watch and how it’s where essentially all the misfits and scum of Westeros ends up being sent to if they fail in the Seven Kingdoms. He does it in a pretty condescending way and Jon gets upset.

Before Tyrion can apologize and smoothe things over with Jon he is pounced upon by Ghost. Fortunately that is the end of it and Jon helps Tyrion back to his feat he realizes that Tyrion was just being brutally honest with him.

Tyrion admires the fact that Jon can take a hard truth for what it is and they share a joke, and one they continue to share back at the camp.

The chapter ends with Tyrion going to bed, but noticing Jon staring into a fire which is something Tyrion said he did as a boy dreaming about dragons.

Interesting note is that Tyrion misjudges Jon’s age by two years. He makes that same mistake again when he meets young Griff in A Dance With Dragons.

This is also the first chapter we see an implied connection between Jon and Ghost that goes beyond just normal interactions that people have with pets. Ghost seems to sense on a deeper than normal level that Tyrion was upsetting Jon, yet he also seemed to know that Tyrion wasn't a threat. While Ghost reacted he didn't over react and tear apart the dwarf with his jaws.

Game of Thrones: Chapter 12: Eddard AKA Growing Lannister Influence

This chapter opens up with Ned being awoken to go riding with the king to discuss affairs of state. On the ride Robert laments that they are no longer the carefree young men they once were and years for the days prior to his rebellion and becoming the king.

After Ned reminds Robert of the duties they have in life now and how even if they both wished to go back to the way things were they couldn’t. Robert points out that Ned was never really carefree and always a bit reserved even back in the days.

One significant thing of this conversation is that Ned tells Robert the name of Jon Snow’s mother was Wylla, and then Ned asks Robert to not talk about it any further. Robert does make a couple of interesting statements here though:  

“Wylla. Yes” the king grinned. “She must have been a rare wench if she could make Lord Eddard Stark forget his honor, even for an hour. You never told me what she looked like...”

So Ned tells Robert Wylla was the woman who is the mother of Jon. Very weird Ned never mentions what she looks like to Robert and gets really defensive saying:

“Nor will I. Leave it be, Robert, for the love you say you bear me. I dishonored myself and I dishonored Catelyn in the sight of gods and men.”

So apparently Ned and Wylla were together after Ned wed Catelyn.

I'm sure at this point everyone who supports the theory R+L = J are nodding.

But is this simply a quick use of carefully selected words? Note that Ned doesn’t specifically say sleeping with Wylla and fathering a bastard was how he dishonored Catelyn.

Regardless the conversation eventually gets to affairs of state when Robert presents Ned a letter from his Spymaster Varys. Here we learn that Varys not only serves Robert but also served the Mad King Aerys Targaryen prior.

As it turns out it’s a report that Daenerys has wed Drogo. Ned questions the source of the information and we learn that Ser Jorah Mormont is acting as a spy in order to hopefully get a pardon for the crime of selling poachers into slavery.

A Double Agent?

We also learn of a sore spot for Ned. He disapproves of the killing of children as was done by the Lannisters to the Targaryen children at the taking of Kings Landing. We learn that Tywin Lannister's men dragged the girl from under a bed where she was hiding and killed her. Her younger brother, who was still nursing, was taken from the mother and his head smashed against a wall.

In addition we see how disturbed Robert is by the news as well as what lengths he is willing to go to as he suggests sending assassins. Ned provides him with good council in that the Dothraki have not ships and hate the open water. In addition when he is told that the child of Jon Arryn won’t be the Warden of the East. Ned counters and makes an excellent suggestion in putting forth the King’s Brother Stannis.

In spite of this it becomes clear that Robert has already named a Warden of the East and that man is Jaime Lannister. Again Ned is unhappy with this choice and warns Robert that when he went into the throne room of the Red Keep, towards the end of the rebellion Jaime was sitting upon the Iron Throne.

Ned also points out that it was Jaime Lannister, also known as the Kingslayer who broke his oath as a member of the Kingsguard and killed the Mad King prior to Robert claiming the crown. Ned questions not only Jaime's honor but his trustworthiness as well.

This gives the Lannisters a great amount of power. With Cersei as Queen, Jaime as Warden of the West and their father Tywin as Warden of the East and Joffrey set to become the next king the Lannisters are certainly gaining in political power and now in a time of war will be in control of half the armies of the Seven Kingdoms.

At this time Ned has not vocalized his concerns to Robert, but his sister in-law’s accusation that the Lannisters had Jon Arryn killed does cross his mind.

The clear question to be asked is why not Stannis? Stannis held on to Storm's End for Robert during his rebellion and was named Master of Ships. As Master of Ships he brilliantly defeated the fleet from the Iron Islands at sea during the Greyjoy Rebellion. That Robert isn’t picking his trusted and accomplished brother suggests strongly that the Lannisters heavily influenced this decision.

Lets look at the track record for Stannis Baratheon up to this point. First a quote from Stannis in A Clash of Kings:

"I held Storm's End for him, watching good men starve while Mace Tyrell and Paxter Redwyne feasted within sight of my walls. Did Robert thank me? No. He thanked Stark, for lifting the siege when we were down to rats and radishes. I built a fleet at Robert's command, took Dragonstone in his name. Did he take my hand and say, Well done brother, whatever should I do without you? No he blamed me for letting Willem Darry steal away viserys and the babe, as if I could have stopped it."

Ok so Stannis held out while under siege and also was able to take the isle of Dragonstone after. Now keep in mind this means all the while that Stannis and his men held out at Storm's End the armies of Highgarden were unable to march and contribute to the war efforts elsewhere on the part of the Targaryens.

OK fine so Stannis holds out and the siege is lifted by Ned. But later he takes Dragonstone. In A Dance With Dragons we learn of how masterful a tactician Stannis was at sea. Victarion Greyjoy laments:

The memory of Fair Isle still rankled in the iron captain's memory. Stannis Baratheon had descended on the Iron Fleet from both north and south whist they were trapped in the channel between the island and the mainland, dealing Victarion his most crushing defeat.

Lets keep in mind Victarion is of the Ironborn who are master seamen. That Stannis dealt such a crushing and complete defeat to him that he years later laments it is more than significant. This proves that Stannis is more than capable of being in charge of a large military force dealing with both land and sea power.

It is clear that the growing influence of the Lannisters is coming into play here with the appointment of Jaime as Warden of the East. It begs the question that had Ned brought the widow Arryn’s accusations to light would Robert have at the least reconsidered. After all a Warden who calls the armies forth and gets no reply isn’t going to be all that effective.

Ned even has a feeling of helplessness at the end of the chapter and even thinks that he really doesn't belong in Kings Landing and really belongs in Winterfell.