Chapter 26: Jon AKA Every Hero Needs a Sidekick Named Sam

This chapter opens up with Jon helping some of the other recruits to improve their fighting skills in the practice yard. Jon is not only showing leadership skills but also showing he has taken the advice given to him by the blacksmith to heart.

The training is interrupted by the arrival of a new recruit Sam Tarley. Sam is clearly out of shape weighing in at 20 stone which converts to 280 lbs. Sam is given an initial sparring partner of Halder who was raised in a stone quarry and trained to be a stone mason. Needless to say it is a very one sided affair with Sam on the ground yielding and cowering.

Ser Alliser orders Sam up and when he hesitates he has Halder strike him with the flat of the blade. This goes on for a bit until Jon steps forward and defends Sam who at this point is unable to get up.

This prompts Ser Alliser to have Jon square off against three foes. Fortunately Pyp and Grenn decide they will help Jon and even the odds. Jon’s side wins and Alliser calls an end to the days training.

Afterwards Sam thanks Jon and the others but flat out admits he is a coward. Jon tries to be encouraging telling Sam he will do better the next day, but Sam assures Jon he won’t as he never gets better.

After this scene we then get a glimpse as to what life is like at Castle Black and some of the various tasks they assign the new recruits. While doing his chores Jon thinks of the words Tyrion said to him “Most men would rather deny a hard truth than face it ,” Jon realizes that there is an unusual sort of honest courage with Sam in admitting he cowardice.

This leads Jon to catch up with him afterwards and to have a chat with him to understand him better. It is here we learn that Sam is the son of Lord Randyll Tarly who defeated Robert’s forces at the battle of Ashford.

Being the oldest son Sam was expected to follow in his father's footsteps but was never able to. His father tried nearly everything he could to get Sam to man up. Over a dozen masters of arms tried and failed to make Sam into a soilder. Randyll even hired warlocks from Qarth who bathed Sam in bulls blood in a ritual attempt to free Sam of his cowardice. Even this didn’t work and when a second son was born Sam was largely ignored in favor of this younger brother.

Eventually while skinning a deer (A reference to Randyll’s victory against the Baratheon forces in the rebellion) Sam is told he will take the black as his father can’t allow the family blade, titles and lands to fall to someone in his view is incapable of bringing honor and glory to the house name.

This notion is reinforced with the threat that should Sam not take the black he will suffer a fatal accident while out hunting.

John then shares a dream that he frequently has. In this dream Jon is looking for family members in an abandoned Winterfell. Specifically he mentions looking for Ned, Arya, Robb and Bran in both the rookery, which is empty as well as the stables, which he finds full of bones.

The bones in the stables foreshadows death for those who have or will ride out for the south. Specifically Ned and Robb who both seem to have gone south seeking justice.

I think the empty rookerie signifies a loss of communication or at the least foreshadow being unable to communicate via conventional methods. Most likely this is for the other two Starks Jon mentions looking for, Bran and Arya.

Lastly Jon mentions feeling compelled to go down into the crypts below Winterfell. He even gets scared and yells out “I don’t belong.” before waking up. Now a lot of people point to this passage as supporting evidence of R+L=J theory. Afterall Lyanna Stark is buried down in the crypts. Personally I think they may be on the right track but they have overlooked the fact that Brandon Stark, Ned’s older brother, is also buried down in the crypts as well.

Jon ends up convincing the other recruits to take it easy on Sam in the training yard and all agree to not go at him with full force with the exception of one recruit. Rast flat out says if he is told to fight Sam he says “I’m going to slice me off a rasher of bacon.”

This prompts a late night visit to Rast while he is sleeping. Jon and some of the other recruits hold his arms and legs while Ghost grabs on to Rast by the neck with his jaws. Jon then reminds Rast that should something happen to Sam the rest know where he sleeps.

The following day the recruits take it easy on Sam and when ordered to attack they only strike him lightly, much to the disgust of Ser Alliser Thorne.

The chapter ends with Sam thanking Jon for helping him out and for being a friend, Jon tells Sam they are not friends, but brothers.

Game of Thrones: Chapter 17: Bran AKA All My Dreams are Ever What they Seem

This chapter opens with us seeing what is happening inside Brans mind. He is envisioning himself falling from a great height, above the world, and he is having a conversation with a crow as he falls. Initially Bran is convinced it’s a dream and that he will wake up before he hits the ground.

The Crow isn't so certain and suggests that Bran try flying.

As Bran falls he notices a great number of things, one of which is a golden face from the mists that says “The things I do for love” which is clearly a memory of Jaime Lannister prior to tossing Bran from the broken tower.

The Crow not only tells him to forget that, but also tells Bran he is gonna teach him how to fly. Bran argues that he’s not flying but just falling. The Crow in true mentor fashion says that every flight begins with a fall and instructs him to look down. Bran sees the following, Maester Luwin looking up practicing astronomy, his brother Robb practicing swordsmanship in the yard, Hodor the stable boy bringing an anvil to the blacksmith.  

All of these things could easily be explained. Bran could be hearing things though the window or perhaps his brain is visualizing remnants of conversations he heard in his subconscious and putting images to them. Luwin may have mentioned the new lens that arrived while tending to Bran and/or commented on some positioning of the stars while in the same room. The same thing could be happening with sounds. After all Robb at practice with his sword will make a definite sounds Bran would be familiar with. Hodor is also not all that bright so Bran could also be hearing the voice of Mikken the Blacksmith giving Hodor some instructions. All of which are logical and rational explanations for what Bran is experiencing.

However it’s what he sees next that logically, being in a coma he shouldn’t be able to know. Bran sees his mother upon a ship, with the knife the assassin was wielding heading for Kings Landing and Ser Rodrik getting sea sick. Bran also notices a storm ahead of them that neither of them seem to see.

He also has visions of his sisters and his father. He sees his father arguing with the King, Sansa crying herself to sleep and Arya keeping her secrets, with shadows all about them. One of the shadows has the face of a hound so a reference to Sandor while another is armored in gold like the sun and beautiful. This could be Cersei who not only uses her wealth but also beauty and power as a form of armor. Clearly the events of the prior chapter are being represented here. But most ominously is what looms over the shadow hound and the golden armored shadow.

“Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.”

This is a clear reference to The Mountain that Rides; Ser Gregor Clegane who has yet to appear in the series. The looming presence and the stone armor point to Gregor for not only his nickname but his physical height. Later on the “thick black blood”  is a foreshadowing of his condition after his duel with Oberyn Martell who uses poison as a weapon. Lastly that he is over both his brother Sandor “the Hound” and Cersei is also suggesting the three have a fate that is somehow linked. If you are sure what I’m talking about just google “Cleganebowl”.

Bran also sees out to foreign lands and sees dragons stirring. So perhaps a bit of foreshadowing here as well since we know that Daenerys was presented with Dragon Eggs at her wedding to Drogo.

When Bran looks North he sees his half brother Jon Snow sleeping in a cold bed with his skin growing pale and cold as the memory of warmth flees him. This may be foreshadowing the attack upon him in A Dance With Dragons.

Lastly Bran sees what lies far beyond the wall and the evil that awaits far to the north. He sees mountains that are rising up and these could be the Frostfangs which are beyond the wall and stretch all the way to the Lands of Always Winter.

Bran does manage to fly and notices the Crow has three eyes, and that the third eye is full of a terrible knowledge. The crow begins pecking at Bran’s forehead and after a bit it seems that some sort of veil has been lifted from Bran and this suggests he has been opened in some way to the supernatural.

At this point Brans sequence ends and he awakens startling a serving girl. His direwolf hops on the bed and Bran notes how large he has grown. When Robb enters the room the chapter ends with Bran telling Robb the name of his direwolf is Summer.

If the author was hinting at a link between the Stark children in prior chapters he outwardly screamed it here with Bran. Clearly it’s something Robb is aware of on at least an intuitive level a he was knew that Bran needed to hear the wolves howling. Additionally Ghost seems to know what Jon is feeling when he went at Tyrion previously, the same can be said of Nymeria and Arya. Nymeria did nothing as Arya and the butcher's boy played, but once Joffrey came at her with intent to hurt Nymeria attacked.

Which brings us to the odd person out in all of this, Sansa, who unfortunately lost Lady in the last chapter due to the Queen's desire. The lack of a direwolf suggests that her story will not have a great deal of elements of magic or the supernatural and instead will be more involved with real world things.

This seems to be the case as Arya on her upcoming adventures both in Westeros and in Braavos encounters people with strange and amazing powers. Jon ventures beyond the wall and has to deal with the Others, Brand additionally we see having a heavy amount of the supernatural in his storyline as he becomes a warg. Further hints at the supernatural and what lay in store for Bran is that when he looks upon the weirwood tree in the Godswood it looks back at him knowingly. Even Robb who doesn’t have a POV chapter is influenced by the supernatural in that Stannis and Melisandre use blood magic on him.

Sansa's story however is devoid of all these things. Her tale revolves around political intrigue and there is a notable lack of magical influence on things that occur with her. Her tale seems very rooted in real world things. This storyline devoid of the supernatural and magic in a world full of the two sets up an interesting juxtapose.

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.