#a clash of kings tyrion iv

[asongoficeandthrones]

A Clash of Kings First Read - Chapter 17

Before the post itself, a little update: posts should be more developed from now on, at least for the "Things I loved/liked" and "Things I disliked/hated" parts. Before that point, I was reading the chapter in one go and then writing up the recaps (and forgetting some rather important things in the process lol). Now I've decided to write the recaps while reading the chapter, which is why the posts will be more developed.

___

(POV: Tyrion IV.)

Setting: The Red Keep.

Favorite character: Am I gonna surprise anyone if I say Tyrion? Because he is, once again. I feel like he knows his weaknesses, and also how to make plans to overcome them, so in that, he's really smart, and he also knows how to manipulate others, which is incredibly useful in this universe.

MVP: Tyrion. His plan was very well-oiled (by eliminating a traitor to him in the Red Keep), and could totally change the game according to the issue of the deal (in favor of the Lannisters, sadly, I guess?).

Things I loved/liked:

Well played, Tyrion, well played. You even had Varys there, and he is not an easy man to win against. (Though poor Myrcella and poor Tommen... The worst thing is that Tyrion actually seems to care about the children... which is why he might be doing this. They'd be safer and grow up a lot healthier away from Cersei/Joffrey, in Dorne at least, if not the Vale.)

I really liked the Littlefinger/Tyrion meeting, because it had so much sass in it (for example, Littlefinger's "I'm wounded. I strive to look elegant every day," or Tyrion's "I have little doubt you'll be equal to the task [of bedding Lysa Arryn]").

The Varys/Tyrion conversation too, as ever. I'm really impressed with Varys's ability to know everything, even when he's not supposed to (and his ability to deduce things as well, since Tyrion has never told Pycelle that he was bargaining off Tommen or Myrcella to the Dornish, just that it had a link with Dorne... unless Varys learned about it another way). Also, Tyrion's final "[...] then I would know the man who told her to be my certain enemy" is kinda badass and ominous, so there's that too.

The conversation between Tyrion and Bronn, because it's been a loooong time since we've seen those two together (that I can remember, at least), and because it showed us the problems that King's Landing (and Tyrion) is dealing with at the moment. And because I like a strategic Bronn (how he analyzes the hedge knights training, in case he has to go up against them someday).

Joffrey being mocked, if only in secret. He deserves it.

Things I disliked/hated:

I guess Tommen and Myrcella being bargained off? But then again I'm aware that it's how most highborn marriages work in this universe.

Bronn's "There are a hundred whorehouses in this city where a clipped copper will buy me all the cunt I want." There are more... delicate ways to put this, I guess? It does seem pretty in-character for him to say that, though.

Tyrion's discussion with Pycelle was very boring. Also, I don't really like Pycelle (if not outright dislike him), and one of the reasons for that is implicitly stated by Tyrion in this chapter: And it seemed to Tyrion that the gold and silver and platinum links far outnumbered those of baser metals. Now, I don't really recall what these metals stand for (but I do remember that each metal stands for a discipline), but I interpreted it as saying that Pycelle cares a lot more than he should about riches and gold.

Cersei's disdainful attitude towards Tyrion (who is a lot smarter and more useful than she knows).

Quotes: Tyrion and Varys's final exchange wowed me and brought the chapter full circle with the last word.

"What Cersei does not know will never hurt me." "And if Her Grace were to discover your intentions before your plans are ripe?" "Why," he said, "then I would know the man who told her to be my certain enemy." And when Varys giggled, he thought, Three.

Thoughts overall: Wow!

[seaworthee]

my toxic trait is thinking tyrion and cersei could be GREAT friends if cersei just got over herself

[naggascradle]

Covers for A Game of Thrones, I (Jon Snow) II (Daenerys Targaryen) III (Tyrion Lannister) IV (Catelyn Stark) V (Ned Stark) & A Clash of Kings, I (Arya Stark) II (Theon Greyjoy) III (Sansa Stark) IV (Davos Seaworth) V (Bran Stark), drawn by Ken Sugiwara for the Japanese paperback release of A Song of Ice and Fire.

[daensaism]

— Sansa & Catelyn Parallels 🐺🐟

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion VIII / AWOIAF / A Storm of Swords - Sansa III / A Game of Thrones - Catelyn IX / A Clash of Kings - Sansa II / A Game of Thrones - Catelyn I / A Clash of Kings - Sansa I / A Clash of Kings - Catelyn IV

[jedimaesteryoda]

One trend I've noticed a lot lately in the speculation of Tyrion meeting Daenerys is how he'll influence her. The argument often is that Tyrion will encourage her more "fire and blood" destructive tendencies when they get to Westeros. However, this view is often one-sided as it's always about how Tyrion will influence Daenerys but never about how Daenerys will influence Tyrion.

"Daenerys, I am thrice your age," Ser Jorah said. "I have seen how false men are. Very few are worthy of trust, and Daario Naharis is not one of them. Even his beard wears false colors." That angered her. "Whilst you have an honest beard, is that what you are telling me? You are the only man I should ever trust?" He stiffened. "I did not say that." "You say it every day. Pyat Pree's a liar, Xaro's a schemer, Belwas a braggart, Arstan an assassin . . . do you think I'm still some virgin girl, that I cannot hear the words behind the words?" "Your Grace—" She bulled over him. "You have been a better friend to me than any I have known, a better brother than Viserys ever was. You are the first of my Queensguard, the commander of my army, my most valued counselor, my good right hand. I honor and respect and cherish you—but I do not desire you, Jorah Mormont, and I am weary of your trying to push every other man in the world away from me, so I must needs rely on you and you alone. It will not serve, and it will not make me love you any better." -ASOS, Daenerys IV

Daenerys is not the sheltered child Aegon was who Tyrion could easily manipulate as shown when she called out Jorah for trying to isolate her from other men. Even Tyrion admitted to Aegon, having never met Daenerys that "she is strong" and "fierce." Daenerys was more worldly at 14 than Aegon is at 16. Even as a small, frightened girl at age 13 in the beginning of the series, she had more street smarts than her adult brother Viserys and has shown to be a prodigy in the series. Tyrion would not be able to manipulate her easily, especially since would initially be wary of him for being a Lannister.

Tyrion at the end of the day would be serving as her subordinate, him being largely dependent on her. Tyrion largely is the way he is because of the toxic family he grew up in. The Lannister vision has no idea of a Good Society, it's just pure self-aggrandizement by any means necessary. As the adage goes, rot always starts at the head. The monarchs Tyrion served as Hand, Joffrey and Cersei, were both cruel, incompetent tyrants with senses of entitlement that outweighed their actual abilities. They also had no concept of the duties of a monarch to their subjects, and instead just abused their power over others, including sexually. The one who actually ran the show for the Lannister regime, Tywin, was a cold, abusive Machiavellian who brutalized the smallfolk and his children, seeing them as pawns in his schemes. Tyrion could be cunning and brutal, because it was both encouraged and necessary for the winner-take-all, dog-eat-dog world of the Lannister court. It was an environment designed to bring out the darker side of his nature.

However, since the beginning we saw hints of the lighter side of his nature such as when he gave emotional support to Jon and designed a special saddle for Bran. He even helped Catelyn when they were attacked by the mountain clans even though she kidnapped him. In A Clash of Kings, we see hints of Tyrion wanting to be something other than the cold Machiavellian like his father when he stands up for Sansa when Joffrey beats her, and he has Morec killed and Slynt sent to the Wall for killing Barra, wanting to "do justice." In A Dance with Dragons, he risks his life to protect Aegon and even in his lowest he looks out for Penny even though she is a complete stranger to him.

Daenerys is a foil to Cersei, whose ruling philosophy is expressed in the statement "Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can't protect themselves?" Daenerys tries to live up to the image of an ideal monarch who protects the weak. She liberates the oppressed from slavery and tries to protect them, even performing acts like tending to those afflicted with the bloody flux herself, marrying someone she doesn't want and putting her plan of going to Westeros on hold to achieve peace. Working as Hand to Queen Daenerys, Tyrion may find himself in a change of pace in a different environment where for once his more positive tendencies are encouraged with his fondness for "cripples, bastards and broken things."

In short, in cutting himself off from his toxic family, Tyrion may actually find a new beginning in service to Daenerys. He's the Machiavellian polymath and court politician she needs, and she's the competent, idealistic monarch he needs.

[fireismine]

DAENERYS TARGARYEN APPRECIATION WEEK 2023

Day 4: Character Parallels → Rhaena the Black Bride and Daenerys Stormborn

The Queen in the West:

In the Red Keep of King’s Landing sat the Queen Regent Alyssa, widow of the late King Aenys, mother to his son Jaehaerys, and wife to the King’s Hand, Rogar Baratheon. Just across Blackwater Bay on Dragonstone, a younger queen had arisen when Alyssa’s daughter Alysanne, a maid of thirteen years, had pledged her troth to her brother King Jaehaerys, against the wishes of her mother and her mother’s lord husband. And far to the west on Fair Isle, with the whole width of Westeros separating her from both mother and sister, was Alyssa’s eldest daughter, the dragonrider Rhaena Targaryen, widow of Prince Aegon the Uncrowned. In the westerlands, riverlands, and parts of the Reach, men were already calling her the Queen in the West. - A Surfeit of Rulers, Fire and Blood

~

Dany knew she would take more than a hundred, if she took any at all. "Remind your Good Master of who I am. Remind him that I am Daenerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, trueborn queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. My blood is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, and of old Valyria before him." - Daenerys II, A Storm of Swords

Three Husbands:

Rhaena was married to Aegon the Uncrowned, Maegor the Cruel and Androw Farman.

~

Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . . – Daenerys IV, A Clash of Kings

The Queen in the East:

“Done,” the king said…mayhaps too hastily, for it must be remembered that Aerea Targaryen, a girl of eight, was his own acknowledged successor, heir apparent to the Iron Throne. The consequences of this decision would not be known for years to come, however. For the nonce it was done, and the Queen in the West at a stroke became the Queen in the East. - A Time of Testing: The Realm Remade, Fire and Blood

~

"The best calumnies are spiced with truth," suggested Qavo, "but the girl's true sin cannot be denied. This arrogant child has taken it upon herself to smash the slave trade, but that traffic was never confined to Slaver's Bay. It was part of the sea of trade that spanned the world, and the dragon queen has clouded the water. Behind the Black Wall, lords of ancient blood sleep poorly, listening as their kitchen slaves sharpen their long knives. Slaves grow our food, clean our streets, teach our young. They guard our walls, row our galleys, fight our battles. And now when they look east, they see this young queen shining from afar, this breaker of chains. The Old Blood cannot suffer that. Poor men hate her too. Even the vilest beggar stands higher than a slave. This dragon queen would rob him of that consolation." - Tyrion VI, A Dance with Dragons

Refusing to Cry

When word of the battle reached the west and Princess Rhaena learned that both her husband and her friend Lady Melony had fallen, it is said she heard the news in a stony silence. “Will you not weep?” she was asked, to which she replied, “I do not have the time for tears.” - The Sons of the Dragon, Fire and Blood

~

His business done, the captain of the Indigo Star bowed and took his leave. Dany shifted uncomfortably on the ebony bench. She dreaded what must come next, yet she knew she had put it off too long already. Yunkai and Astapor, threats of war, marriage proposals, the march west looming over all . . . I need my knights. I need their swords, and I need their counsel. Yet the thought of seeing Jorah Mormont again made her feel as if she'd swallowed a spoonful of flies; angry, agitated, sick. She could almost feel them buzzing round her belly. I am the blood of the dragon. I must be strong. I must have fire in my eyes when I face them, not tears. "Tell Belwas to bring my knights," Dany commanded, before she could change her mind. "My good knights." - Daenerys VI, A Storm of Swords

Gains Confidence After Bonding with a Dragon:

At the age of nine, however, Rhaena was presented with a hatchling from the pits of Dragonstone, and she and the young dragon she named Dreamfyre bonded instantly. With her dragon beside her, the princess slowly began to grow out of her shyness; at the age of twelve she took to the skies for the first time, and thereafter, though she remained a quiet girl, no one dared to call her timid. - The Sons of the Dragon, Fire and Blood

~

Day followed day, and night followed night, until Dany knew she could not endure a moment longer. She would kill herself rather than go on, she decided one night … Yet when she slept that night, she dreamt the dragon dream again. Viserys was not in it this time. There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce. And the next day, strangely, she did not seem to hurt quite so much. It was as if the gods had heard her and taken pity. Even her handmaids noticed the change. "Khaleesi," Jhiqui said, "what is wrong? Are you sick?" "I was," she answered, standing over the dragon's eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black-and-scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers … or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously. - Daenerys III, A Game of Thrones

[la-pheacienne]

How do you interpret Daenerys IV, A clash of kings? There must be one more, the dragon has three heads. Or Daenerys I, A storm of swords? Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him.

ACOK: that's Dany's vision, Rhaegar was looking at Dany through space and time, letting Dany know of the prophecy, inside her vision. He wasn't seeking the three heads of the dragon himself when he was alive. We know that anyone can be "head of the dragon", Aemon wished he could be by Dany's side to do precisely that, we know that Tyrion will probably be one of the heads. It has never been established that the three heads of the dragon have to be siblings nor that Rhaegar thought as much. So why would he exclusively want his kids to be the three heads? Based on what? The only real info we have of his mindset (outside Dany's vision) is that he believed his son was TPTWP, and that's because of a specific reason aka the comet that he saw on the night his son was conceived, that he took for the bleeding star of the prophecy.

ASOS: that's Rhaegar finding out about the prophecy that coincidentally is the title of the book series. That's him being a prophet type of character, an idealist looking far ahead, beyond political interests and rivalries, while the rest of the characters of his time were busy being petty political players. Of course that was Rhaegar's downfall because Rhaegar's idealism was crushed under the ruthless and unforgiving necessities of his present time. It was also his biggest redeeming quality and the reason why I personally find him special and I hold onto him even though he's a minor dead side character. This tragedy will be corrected by Dany and Jon who perfectly encapsulate Rhaegar's idealism while also enriching it with their important ruling experience and pragmatism.

[agentrouka-blog]

Do you think that the Dance is also meant to be a foreshadowing for the books like D vs fA or Jon? Because I feel like with how the story is centered to the Starks, whoever gains their support (obv Jon if he joins 😂) will win and we get to have a second hour of the wolf

Let's put it this way: The main novel series is the point, and the Dance of Dragons is a result of its existence, it is fictional historical backstory that is meant to inform, illustrate and foreshadow the events of the main series.

The first book of the main novel series was published in 1996. It already contained references to the Dance of the Dragons, and they reappear sprinkled through the series, increasing in detail and relevance.

What is interesting is that the thing most emphasized about the Dance in the main series is the intra-family strife. Brother v. sister - and transcribed into the kingsguard: brother against brother, metaphorical and literal.

Bran was going to be a knight himself someday, one of the Kingsguard. [...] Bran knew all the stories. [...] The twins Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, who had died on one another's swords hundreds of years ago, when brother fought sister in the war the singers called the Dance of the Dragons. (AGOT, Bran II)

It's a popular, high-culture piece of music that plays on the multiple perspectives of the historical event.

Later, while Sansa was off listening to a troupe of singers perform the complex round of interwoven ballads called the "Dance of the Dragons," Ned inspected the bruise himself. (AGOT, Eddard VII)

A Clash of Kings (1998) contains no reference, though you could consider the entire developing civil war to be an answer to that first reference.

A Storm of Swords (2000) picks it up again in much greater detail.

Stannis - notably having killed his brother over the throne - emphasizes the aspect of treason while discussing the fate of his wife's uncle Alester Florent.

"It has always been so. I am not . . . I am not a cruel man, Ser Davos. You know me. Have known me long. This is not my decree. It has always been so, since Aegon's day and before. Daemon Blackfyre, the brothers Toyne, the Vulture King, Grand Maester Hareth . . . traitors have always paid with their lives . . . even Rhaenyra Targaryen. She was daughter to one king and mother to two more, yet she died a traitor's death for trying to usurp her brother's crown. It is law. Law, Davos. Not cruelty." (ASOS, Davos IV)

The song makes another appearance at Joffrey's wedding, once again emphasizing that it is a complex story from multiple perspectives. Also setting up the inter-Lannister collapse that has been brewing for a while and explodes with Joffrey's murder.

Collio began with his version of "The Dance of the Dragons," which was more properly a song for two singers, male and female.  (ASOS, Tyrion VIII)

Jaime brings it back around to the kingsguard pseudo-brotherhood, which mirrors the inter-family aspect of the civil war.

The old and the new. Jaime wondered if that meant anything. There had been times during its history where the Kingsguard had been divided against itself, most notably and bitterly during the Dance of the Dragons. Was that something he needed to fear as well? (ASOS, Jaime VIII)

Given the mess that is made of the kingsguard in the coming book in KL and in Dorne... yes, Jaime.

By AFFC (2005) GRRM firmly establishes the Dance as a historical reference for destructive civil war over feuding siblings.

And the songs he chose . . . He sang of the Dance of the Dragons, of fair Jonquil and her fool, of Jenny of Oldstones and the Prince of Dragonflies. He sang of betrayals, and murders most foul, of hanged men and bloody vengeance. He sang of grief and sadness. (AFFC, Sansa I)

It also turns the focus on Criston Cole as an alleged external engineer of such strife. Interestingly, his arms resemble a ladybug, Targaryen colors but not Targaryen.

"Most deserve to be forgotten. The heroes will always be remembered. The best." "The best and the worst." So one of us is like to live in song. "And a few who were a bit of both. Like him." He tapped the page he had been reading. "Who?" Ser Loras craned his head around to see. "Ten black pellets on a scarlet field. I do not know those arms." "They belonged to Criston Cole, who served the first Viserys and the second Aegon." Jaime closed the White Book. "They called him Kingmaker." (AFFC, Jaime II)

Contrasting to Stannis, Arianne uses the Dance as an example of treason from the other side, trying to manipulate kingsguard Arys Oakheart into supporting her coup against her father and brother, even though by Dornish custom her role would more rightly resemble that of Aegon II because she is the legal heir and believes her father to favor second-born Quentyn. Notably, Criston Cole is blamed over all Targaryen's involved. Ridiculous but probably significant.

Ser Criston Cole. Criston the Kingmaker had set brother against sister and divided the Kingsguard against itself, bringing on the terrible war the singers named the Dance of the Dragons. Some claimed he acted from ambition, for Prince Aegon was more tractable than his willful older sister. Others allowed him nobler motives, and argued that he was defending ancient Andal custom. A few whispered that Ser Criston had been Princess Rhaenyra's lover before he took the white and wanted vengeance on the woman who had spurned him. "The Kingmaker wrought grave harm," Ser Arys said, "and gravely did he pay for it, but . . ." (AFFC, The Soiled Knight)

Quite fittingly, Arianne's own little "dance" ends with horror and death and deep regret on her side, while poor Quentyn is busy on the other side of the planet.

Meanwhile, GRRM keeps the subject current in ADWD (2011) after Tyrion joins the entourage of "Young Griff", mixing in a reminder of different perspective on historical events. And some dragonslaying. Clearly, he has compiled a lot of detailed backstory for this civil war by now.

Haldon was unimpressed. "Even Duck knows that tale. Can you tell me the name of the knight who tried the same ploy with Vhagar during the Dance of the Dragons?" Tyrion grinned. "Ser Byron Swann. He was roasted for his trouble … only the dragon was Syrax, not Vhagar." "I fear that you're mistaken. In The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, Maester Munkun writes—" "—that it was Vhagar. Grand Maester Munkun errs. Ser Byron's squire saw his master die, and wrote his daughter of the manner of it. His account says it was Syrax, Rhaenyra's she-dragon, which makes more sense than Munken's version. Swann was the son of a marcher lord, and Storm's End was for Aegon. Vhagar was ridden by Prince Aemond, Aegon's brother. Why should Swann want to slay her?" (ADWD, Tyrion III)

Dragonslaying comes up again in the context of Hazzea and the effects of dragons in general.

If I look back, I am doomed, Dany told herself … but how could she not look back? I should have seen it coming. Was I so blind, or did I close my eyes willfully, so I would not have to see the price of power? Viserys had told her all the tales when she was little. He loved to talk of dragons. She knew how Harrenhal had fallen. She knew about the Field of Fire and the Dance of the Dragons. One of her forebears, the third Aegon, had seen his own mother devoured by his uncle's dragon. And there were songs beyond count of villages and kingdoms that lived in dread of dragons till some brave dragonslayer rescued them. At Astapor the slaver's eyes had melted. On the road to Yunkai, when Daario tossed the heads of Sallor the Bald and Prendahl na Ghezn at her feet, her children made a feast of them. Dragons had no fear of men. And a dragon large enough to gorge on sheep could take a child just as easily. (ADWD, Daenerys II)

In a telling twist on the name that pulls it directly into the present and likely future, we look at burned Quentyn:

After the girl was gone, the old knight peeled back the coverlet for one last look at Quentyn Martell's face, or what remained of it. So much of the prince's flesh had sloughed away that he could see the skull beneath. His eyes were pools of pus. He should have stayed in Dorne. He should have stayed a frog. Not all men are meant to dance with dragons. (ADWD, The Queen's Hand)

Which echoes again with Arianne in her TWOW sample chapters (2010-ish), which (interestingly) also flesh out her relationship with Daemon Sand, an intentional reference to a prominent character in the dance linked to Rhaenyra.

"Once we know beyond a doubt whether these be friends or foes, my father will know what to do," the princess said. It was then that pasty, pudgy Teora raised her eyes from the creamcakes on her plate. "It is dragons." "Dragons?" said her mother. "Teora, don't be mad." "I'm not. They're coming." "How could you possibly know that?" her sister asked, with a note of scorn in her voice. "One of your little dreams?" Teora gave a tiny nod, chin trembling. "They were dancing. In my dream. And everywhere the dragons danced the people died."

Much like with Daenerys, this reference emphasizes the destructive effects of the dragon-based civil war.

Since Arianne's little stint as pseudo-Rhaenyra went nowhere, but the Dance references remain thick and strong, we can likely look at her upcoming connection to Aegon as the point of it all.

Incidentally, GRRM has already set up their future conflict:

Now, how do you suppose this queen will react when you turn up with your begging bowl in hand and say, 'Good morrow to you, Auntie. I am your nephew, Aegon, returned from the dead. I've been hiding on a poleboat all my life, but now I've washed the blue dye from my hair and I'd like a dragon, please … and oh, did I mention, my claim to the Iron Throne is stronger than your own?' " (ADWD, Tyrion VI)

This places Tyrion into the role of a Cole-figure, hilariously, having pushed Aegon into changing direction to claim the throne directly without Dany.

There's the strife between family members, kingsguards, factions, and manipulative third parties, all over a throne that really isn't worth it, told from multiple perspectives, bringing misery and destruction to the smallfolk.

All the extra material on the Dance of Dragons was published after ADWD, from A World of Ice and Fire (2014) to the novellas (2013-2024) to Fire and Blood (2018), with one small reference to the extinction of the dragons after the Dance in The Mystery Knight (2010). So all this backstory was compiled and built up in the service of of the main story GRRM is telling.

You rightfully bring up Jon, Daenerys and Aegon all together, but it's extremely unlikely that Jon Snow is going to be a driving factor in a Dance of Dragons 2.0 because he will only just find out that he has Targaryen ancestry, and in a way that puts him it in conflict with her Stark ancestry.

No, this war is going to be between two established family members who both have claims and means alongside the ambition to ascend the Iron Throne. Not quite brother v. sister but aunt v. nephew. Tragic, destructive, self-destructive. Much like what the Baratheon brothers have served us before. Only with dragons involved on Dany's side, while Aegon mixes it up by simultaneously representing the Dornish side of the story, through his mother Elia - which is a whole different kettle of fish.

Jon's presence in there is probably going to be a very interesting complicating factor that might go in many different directions, with mirrors to Robb's Will and Stannis' offer of legitimization (another theme in the Dance), to accusations of manipulation and ambition (Criston Cole). The role of the prophecy is also going to be explored in all its myopic self-destructive emptiness.

This won't be a copy of the first Dance, though.

If there is an Hour of the Wolf, it's going to preside not over scarred survivors, but over the ashes and corpses of King's Landing and the Targaryen legacy in Westeros.

[tyriongirl]

The Lannisters + Cunning

A Game of Thrones - Tyrion III

A Game of Thrones - Tyrion IV

A Game of Thrones - Tyrion V

A Clash of Kings - Tyrion I

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion I

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion III

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion VI

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion VI

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion VIII

A Feast for Crows - Cersei III

A Feast for Crows - Cersei III

A Feast for Crows - Cersei V

[mandzipop]

Chapters: 52/? Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark Characters: Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Ned Stark, Catelyn Tully Stark, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy, Samwell Tarly, Gilly (A Song of Ice and Fire), Edd Tollett, Benjen Stark, Pyp | Pypar (A Song of Ice and Fire), Grenn (A Song of Ice and Fire), Jeor Mormont, Maester Aemon Targaryen, Grand Maester Pycelle (A Song of Ice and Fire), Tyrion Lannister, Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Joffrey Baratheon, Shireen Baratheon, Tommen Baratheon, Myrcella Baratheon, Davos Seaworth, Melisandre (A Song of Ice and Fire), Varys (A Song of Ice and Fire), Petyr Baelish, Barristan Selmy, Margaery Tyrell, Olenna Tyrell, Loras Tyrell, Ghost | Jon Snow's Direwolf, Lady | Sansa Stark's Direwolf, Nymeria | Arya Stark's Direwolf, Grey Wind | Robb Stark's Direwolf, Summer | Bran Stark's Direwolf, Shaggydog | Rickon Stark's Direwolf, Rickon Stark, Sandor Clegane, Gregor Clegane, Edmure Tully, Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, Lysa Tully Arryn, Robert "Sweetrobin" Arryn, Yohn Royce, Anya Waynwood, Roose Bolton, Jon "The Greatjon" Umber, Rickard Karstark, Myranda Royce, dragon o/c, Oberyn Martell Additional Tags: jonsa, R Plus L Equals J | Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen are Jon Snow's Parents, Love, War, Character Death, Politics, Betrayal, Smut, orginialcharacterdragon, Direwolves (A Song of Ice and Fire), Dragons, Intrigue, Sexual Assault, Ramsay Snow is his own Warning, BAMF Arya Stark Series: Part 2 of Daggers to the Heart Summary:

A war is brewing in the South. It is time to face the Lions. To complicate matters, familiar foes return to haunt them.

This is part 2 of a series, written in the order of the books To fully appreciate (and understand) this story, you need to read part one. If you don't, you won't know what is happening.

Daggers to the Heart Pt 1, A Game of Thrones Daggers to the Heart Pt 2, Clash of Kings

[lannistertwinz]

King’s Landing had never loved Lord Tywin. He never wanted love, though. “You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your halls on a cold night,” she heard him tell Jaime once, when her brother had been no older than Tommen.

- Cersei II, A Feast For Crows

"The night's first traitors," the queen said, "but not the last, I fear. Have Ser Ilyn see to them, and put their heads on pikes outside the stables as a warning." As they left, she turned to Sansa. "Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. Be gentle on a night like this and you'll have treasons popping up all about you like mushrooms after a hard rain. The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy."

"I will remember, Your Grace," said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people's loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me.

- Sansa VI, A Clash of Kings

“Have their tongues out,” urged Strongboar. 

“Good luck getting answers then,” said Jaime. “If you want their help, you need to make them love you. That was how Arthur Dayne did it, when we rode against the Kingswood Brotherhood. He paid the smallfolk for the food we ate, brought their grievances to King Aerys, expanded the grazing lands around their villages, even won them the right to fell a certain number of trees each year and take a few of the king’s deer during the autumn. The forest folk had looked to Toyne to defend them, but Ser Arthur did more for them than the Brotherhood could ever hope to do, and won them to our side. After that, the rest was easy.”

- Jaime IV, A Feast For Crows

Passages like these always get me back to thinking about the years Jaime spent squiring at Crakehall and later on as a member of the Kingsguard at King’s Landing, while Cersei was travelling back and forth with Tywin and Tyrion was mostly neglected and left alone...The siblings own disctinct personalities definitely inform their individual actions in the story, but I find it interesting to ponder as to why some of Tywin’s philosophy is not as strongly embedded in Jaime and how much of that is connected to him not being under Tywin’s direct influence and having other role models to aspire to.

[addamvelaryon]

DEAD THINGS IN THE WOODS. DEAD THINGS IN THE WATER.

I was once again thinking about how Patchface has a tendency to say some rather odd things, and if you view the phrase "under the sea" as an indication of death/afterlife, the things he says take on a more sinister connotation:

Patchface rang his bells. “It is always summer under the sea,” he intoned. “The merwives wear nennymoans in their hair and weave gowns of silver seaweed. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh.”

— A Clash of Kings, Prologue

Patchface was capering about as the maester made his slow way around the table to Davos Seaworth. “Here we eat fish,” the fool declared happily, waving a cod about like a scepter. “Under the sea, the fish eat us. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh.”

— A Clash of Kings, Prologue

“Under the sea the old fish eat the young fish,” the fool muttered at Davos. He bobbed his head, and his bells clanged and chimed and sang. “I know, I know, oh oh oh.”

— A Storm of Swords, Davos V

They found Her Grace sewing by the fire, whilst her fool danced about to music only he could hear, the cowbells on his antlers clanging. “The crow, the crow,” Patchface cried when he saw Jon. “Under the sea the crows are white as snow, I know, I know, oh, oh, oh.”

— A Dance With Dragons, Jon XI

Patchface jumped up. “I will lead it!” His bells rang merrily. “We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh.”

— A Dance With Dragons, Jon XIII

“Under the sea, men marry fishes.” Patchface did a little dance step, jingling his bells. “They do, they do, they do.”

— A Dance With Dragons, Jon XIII

Patchface drowned but survived under mysterious circumstances:

The boy washed up on the third day. Maester Cressen had come down with the rest, to help put names to the dead. When they found the fool he was naked, his skin white and wrinkled and powdered with wet sand. Cressen had thought him another corpse, but when Jommy grabbed his ankles to drag him off to the burial wagon, the boy coughed water and sat up. To his dying day, Jommy had sworn that Patchface’s flesh was clammy cold.

No one ever explained those two days the fool had been lost in the sea. The fisherfolk liked to say a mermaid had taught him to breathe water in return for his seed.

— A Clash of Kings, Prologue

The previous passage almost seems to echo the following:

He had been the thirteenth man to lead the Night’s Watch, she said; a warrior who knew no fear. “And that was the fault in him,” she would add, “for all men must know fear.” A woman was his downfall; a woman glimpsed from atop the Wall, with skin as white as the moon and eyes like blue stars. Fearing nothing, he chased her and caught her and loved her, though her skin was cold as ice, and when he gave his seed to her he gave his soul as well.

— A Storm of Swords, Bran IV

That's not the only connection that exists between the merlings and the white walkers:

Mormont was deaf to the edge in his voice. “The fisherfolk near Eastwatch have glimpsed white walkers on the shore.”

This time Tyrion could not hold his tongue. “The fisherfolk of Lannisport often glimpse merlings.”

— A Game of Thrones, Tyrion III

Which of course reminds me of Cotter Pyke's ominous letter to Jon Snow:

At Hardhome, with six ships. Wild seas. Blackbird lost with all hands, two Lyseni ships driven aground on Skane, Talon taking water. Very bad here. Wildlings eating their own dead. Dead things in the woods. Braavosi captains will only take women, children on their ships. Witch women call us slavers. Attempt to take Storm Crow defeated, six crew dead, many wildlings. Eight ravens left. Dead things in the water. Send help by land, seas wracked by storms. From Talon, by hand of Maester Harmune.

Cotter Pyke had made his angry mark below.

“Is it grievous, my lord?” asked Clydas.

“Grievous enough.” Dead things in the wood. Dead things in the water. Six ships left, of the eleven that set sail. Jon Snow rolled up the parchment, frowning. Night falls, he thought, and now my war begins.

— A Dance With Dragons, Jon XI

Dead things in the woods. Dead things in the water. Here's the description of the white walkers and the merlings:

Will saw movement from the corner of his eye. Pale shapes gliding through the wood. He turned his head, glimpsed a white shadow in the darkness. Then it was gone. Branches stirred gently in the wind, scratching at one another with wooden fingers. Will opened his mouth to call down a warning, and the words seemed to freeze in his throat.

[...]

A shadow emerged from the dark of the wood. It stood in front of Royce. Tall, it was, and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk. Its armor seemed to change color as it moved; here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow, everywhere dappled with the deep grey-green of the trees. The patterns ran like moonlight on water with every step it took.

— A Game of Thrones, Prologue

They tell of pale blue mists that move across the waters, mists so cold that any ship they pass over is frozen instantly; of drowned spirits who rise at night to drag the living down into the grey-green depths; of mermaids pale of flesh with black-scaled tails, far more malign than their sisters of the south.

— The World of Ice and Fire, The Shivering Sea

Pale and black and grey-green. All frozen.

There is also this similarity of both being said to lay with human women to sire terrible offsprings:

He remembered the hearth tales Old Nan told them. The wildlings were cruel men, she said, slavers and slayers and thieves. They consorted with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns. And their women lay with the Others in the Long Night to sire terrible half-human children.

— A Game of Thrones, Bran I

An even more fanciful possibility was put forth a century ago by Maester Theron. Born a bastard on the Iron Islands, Theron noted a certain likeness between the black stone of the ancient fortress and that of the Seastone Chair, the high seat of House Greyjoy of Pyke, whose origins are similarly ancient and mysterious. Theron’s rather inchoate manuscript Strange Stone postulates that both fortress and seat might be the work of a queer, misshapen race of half men sired by creatures of the salt seas upon human women. These Deep Ones, as he names them, are the seed from which our legends of merlings have grown, he argues, whilst their terrible fathers are the truth behind the Drowned God of the ironborn.

— The World of Ice and Fire, The Reach

We know the dragons are contrasted against the white walkers, but perhaps the merlings are too:

The big man looked out toward the terrace. “I knew it would rain,” he said in a gloomy tone. “My bones were aching last night. They always ache before it rains. The dragons won’t like this. Fire and water don’t mix, and that’s a fact.”

— A Dance With Dragons, The Dragontamer

Although no one can say for certain exactly what kind of creatures Euron (who, while not exactly THE NIGHT KING, is still very Night King coded) plans on summoning from the sea, but perhaps the merlings are part of his plan.

[ilynpilled]

A Game of Thrones - Tyrion I

A Clash of Kings - Jon III

A Clash of Kings - Catelyn IV

A Clash of Kings - Theon V

A Storm of Swords - Jaime I

A Storm of Swords - Samwell I

A Storm of Swords - Arya VII

A Storm of Swords - Daenerys VI

A Storm of Swords - Sansa VII

A Dance with Dragons - Melisandre I

POV characters & the dawn

[daensaism]

— Arya & Catelyn Parallels 🐺🐟

A Game of Thrones - Arya I / A Clash of Kings - Catelyn I / A Game of Thrones - Arya II / A Clash of Kings - Catelyn VI / A Storm of Swords - Arya IV / A Game of Thrones - Tyrion IV / A Clash of Kings - Arya III / A Clash of Kings - Catelyn II / A Clash of Kings - Arya X / A Game of Thrones - Catelyn VI

[esther-dot]

"The queen wore a high-collared black silk gown, with a hundred dark red rubies sewn into her bodice, covering her from neck to bosom."- Sansa(AGOT IV).

"Joff wore plush black velvets slashed with crimson, a shimmering cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar, and on his head a golden crown crusted with rubies and black diamonds."- Sansa(AGOT V).

"He(Joffery) was in crimson samite, his black mantle studded with rubies, on his head his heavy golden crown."- Sansa(ACOK VIII).

"Tyrion wore a doublet of black velvet covered with golden scrollwork, thigh-high boots that added three inches to his height, a chain of rubies and lions' heads."- Sansa(ASOS III).

Lannisters are wearing Targ colors in Sansa chapters. Could it mean something other than Lannisters are standin for Targs?

And I'll paste in an anon, too:

I found something interesting in Sansa chapters. When Sansa was called to write letters to Robb, Cersei was wearing black gown with rubies. When Sansa goes to court to plead mercy for Ned, Joffery was wearing black and gold with rubies in his crown. During her marriage with Tyrion, he was wearing black and red dress with rubies chain. All are invoking Targ image and trying to exploit Sansa. Cersei pretending to be a just queen, Joffery a just king and Tyrion being a good husband.

(related to this convo)

I agree with both of you that the Targ colors have an interesting habit of creeping up in pivotal moments for Sansa. I could describe the Joffrey and Tyrion instances as examples of a Stark maiden being taken advantage of by a prince who charms her with a song, and a suitor/husband who has ulterior motives. So, yes, it is more than just a general connection to Targs, I think Lyanna is woven into this.

I can’t remember lines to indicate that Sansa knows the extent of Tyrion’s ambition, that if she were to give him a son, her life would be endangered, but we know her life would be, so it kinda reads as another connection to Lyanna who died as a result of Rhaegar's desire for a third head of the dragon.

Before we have joked about Cersei's dress referencing Rhaegar, and I actually do think it's intentional:

They had come together at the ford of the Trident while the battle crashed around them, Robert with his warhammer and his great antlered helm, the Targaryen prince armored all in black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the sunlight. The waters of the Trident ran red around the hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert's hammer stove in the dragon and the chest beneath it. When Ned had finally come on the scene, Rhaegar lay dead in the stream, while men of both armies scrabbled in the swirling waters for rubies knocked free of his armor. (AGOT, Eddard I)

The queen wore a high-collared black silk gown, with a hundred dark red rubies sewn into her bodice, covering her from neck to bosom. They were cut in the shape of teardrops, as if the queen were weeping blood. (AGOT, Sansa VI)

We could say that’s far fetched, except, in Sansa's first chapter Rhaegar and his rubies are quite pivotal, and the Trident incident leads to her losing Lady. What's important about that is that Sansa's pleas for Lady's life remind Ned of Lyanna:

He could still hear Sansa pleading, as Lyanna had pleaded once. (AGOT, Eddard IV)

One might say the two Stark girls are deliberately associated by the author. 😊

So we get Rhaegar and his Rubies when Sansa suffers a great loss, Rhaegar and his rubies when she realizes her prince doesn't care about her, Rhaegar and his rubies when she is forced to "betray" her family, Rhaegar and his rubies when she is forced into an unwanted marriage….I mean, I'm not saying reading this as Lyanna’s story is the only way to read those descriptions, but it's a very interesting way to see them!

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 17 TYRION IV (pages 238-253)

Tyrion lays some bait for the members of the small council as he tries to plan for the future of King's Landing and his family. Meanwhile, Alisser Thorne finally arrives, but his warning about the up coming Zombie Apocalypse is unfortunately delayed.

-

"There are a hundred whorehouses in this city where a clipped copper will buy me all the cunt I want," Bronn answered, "but one day my life may hang on how close I've watched your louts." He stood.

"cunt" = 🥛

The sellsword grew more serious. "There's a moneylender from Braavos, holding fancy papers and the like, requests to see the ling about payment on some loan." "As if Joff could count past twenty. Send the man to Littlefinger, he'll find a way to put him off. Next?"

... Does Tyrion know how in debt the crown is? He should by this point shouldn't he? I can't decide if I should be reading this as "Tyrion knows how bad the debt is and that they can't pay it so they need to stall for time until they can" or "Tyrion doesn't know how bad the debt is but money and stuff is Not His Department and thus not his problem."

"Ser Alliser Thorne?" Of all the brothers he'd met on the Wall, Tyrion had liked Ser Alliser Thorne the least. A bitter, mean-spirited man with too great a sense of his own worth. "Come to think on it, I don't believe I care to see Ser Alliser just now. Find him a snug cell where no one has changed the rushes in a year, and let his hand rot a little more."

*slow clap* Excellent. And thus, because he did not like the messenger, he did not hear the message until there was no evidence left to prove it true.

That's part of the allegory though, isn't it. People don't want to hear the message, they want to hear it even less from people they don't like, as if the truth is depended on whether or not we like it.

Also, I keep going to type 'Allister' every time I have to spell Alliser's name.

"That's a handsome knife as well." "Is it?" There was mischief in Littlefinger's eyes. He drew the knife and glanced at it casually, as if he had never seen it before. "Valyrian steel and a dragonbone hilt. A trifle plain, though. It's yours, if you would like it." "Mine?" Tyrion gave him a long look. "No. I think not. Never mine." He knows, the insolent wretch. He knows and he knows that I know, and her thinks that I cannot touch him.

Valyrian steel + Dragonbone = 🥛🥛 (the weather's still atrociously hot, so it still counts for two. Stay hydrated all!)

Oh wow, Littlefinger really does own the entire economy from the top down. No wonder he's been getting away with embezzlement and tax fraud.

"- I've heard you grew close to the Tullys." "You might say so. The girls especially." "How close?" "I had their maidenheads. Is that close enough?"

-and then suddenly the floor and wall collapsed, dropping Petyr into the yard where the hares decided they'd had enough and staged an uprising, killing Joffrey and Petyr first with all the vengeance they could muster, calling on their ancestor: The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog!

"She believes she has good reason. When I was her guest in the Eyrie, she insisted that I'd murdered her husband, and was not inclined to listen to denials." He leaned forward. "If I gave her Jon Arryn's true killer, she might think more kindly of me."

*looks directly at the camera like we're on The Office* just a sliiiight flaw in that plan, Tyrion. Very mall, true, but unfortunately, structural. Load bearing, even.

... You know, I do kind of like Varys in spite of myself. I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him, but he grows on me. Like a cute, giggly fungus.