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.
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| 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.
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