#one day i will post my meta on arya and identity

[butterflies-dragons]

DUNK SNOW

Ser Duncan The Tall and Jon Snow are more similar than we thought... 

A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms is a book full of Dunk and Jon parallels and hints of Jon Snow’s true parentage. Here is what I found in my last re-reading.  

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a collection containing the first three Dunk and Egg novellas by George R. R. Martin:

The Hedge Knight

The Sworn Sword

The Mystery Knight

It was indirectly confirmed that Brienne of Tarth is a descendant of Ser Duncan The Tall, and they share a lot of parallels. Some readers have also speculated that Ser Duncan The Tall is an ancestor of certain pair of tall brothers, and have also drawn parallels between those characters.    

But while I was writing another meta, I was amazed by all the similarities between Ser Duncan The Tall and Jon Snow, and I wondered, why there was not metas about it?   

Also, while reading the tales, you can find that Dunk and Egg, at some point, sound very much like all the Stark kids, even Rickon. Dunk and Egg can be romantics like Sansa, but they would also call “stupid” certain “feminine” or “romantic” things like Arya does, but at the same time they both dream of being knights of the Kingsguard like Bran, and always try to be fair and honorable like Jon Snow.    

But, in this post I’m going to explore the parallels between Ser Duncan The Tall and Jon Snow.  

DUNK AND JON

Thinking fast, we can say that,  

Dunk and Jon are both orphans and presumed bastards.  

Dunk defending Tanselle resemblances Jon defending Samwell.

Despite not being “proper knights” both are knights that remember their vows.

Their sexual awakening was with a red haired woman. 

Both met Maester Aemon.

Despite the prejudice against their low status, both became Lord Commanders of the Kingsguard and Night’s Watch, respectively.  

Both have connections with the North, Dunk visited Winterfell and scorted Maester Aemon to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, etc.

But there is much more.

THE  HEDGE KNIGHT

This tale is full of  Dragonflies and Dragons imagery. GRRM is telling us about dragons that don’t look like dragons, about Targaryens that don’t look like Targaryens, about princes in disguise and secret identities.

Dunk and Jon share the wish to prove the world they are worthy

Yet however fine their pavilions were to look upon, he knew there was no place there for him. A threadbare wool cloak would be all the shelter he had tonight. While the lords and great knights dined on capons and suckling pigs, Dunk's supper would be a hard, stringy piece of salt beef. He knew full well that if he made his camp upon that gaudy field, he would need to suffer both silent scorn and open mockery. A few perhaps would treat him kindly, yet in a way that was almost worse.

A hedge knight must hold tight to his pride. Without it, he was no more than a sellsword. I must earn my place in that company. If I fight well, some lord may take me into his household. I will ride in noble company then, and eat fresh meat every night in a castle hail, and raise my own pavilion at tourneys. But first I must do well. Reluctantly, he turned his back on the tourney grounds and led his horses into the trees.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

"I forget nothing," Jon boasted. The wine was making him bold. He tried to sit very straight, to make himself seem taller. "I want to serve in the Night's Watch, Uncle."

He had thought on it long and hard, lying abed at night while his brothers slept around him. Robb would someday inherit Winterfell, would command great armies as the Warden of the North. Bran and Rickon would be Robb's bannermen and rule holdfasts in his name. His sisters Arya and Sansa would marry the heirs of other great houses and go south as mistress of castles of their own. But what place could a bastard hope to earn?

"You don't know what you're asking, Jon. The Night's Watch is a sworn brotherhood. We have no families. None of us will ever father sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor."

"A bastard can have honor too," Jon said. "I am ready to swear your oath."

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous. Once Jon had meant to prove them wrong, to show his lord father that he could be as good and true a son as Robb. 

—A Storm of Swords - Jon X

There are a lot of hints of Jon’s true parentage in this tale, not only Egg being a Targaryen prince in disguise, but also a dragon that doesn’t look like a dragon

He sat naked under the elm while he dried, enjoying the warmth of the spring air on his skin as he watched a dragonfly move lazily among the reeds. Why would they name it a dragonfly? he wondered. It looks nothing like a dragon. Not that Dunk had ever seen a dragon. 

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son. 

—A Game of Thrones - Tyrion II

She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him.

—A Game of Thrones - Catelyn II

“A shade more exhausting than needlework,” Jon observed.

“A shade more fun than needlework,” Arya gave back at him. Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. Arya flushed. They had always been close. Jon had their father’s face, as she did. 

—A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. 

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

“Who’s this one now?“ Craster said before Jon could go. “He has the look of a Stark.”

“My steward and squire, Jon Snow.”

—A Clash of Kings - Jon III

Don’t call me “My Lord”

Egg smiled. 

"Yes, my lord."

"Ser," Dunk corrected. "I am only a hedge knight." 

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

“That is a longsword, not an old man’s cane,” Ser Alliser said sharply. “Are your legs hurting, Lord Snow?

"Jon hated that name, a mockery that Ser Alliser had hung on him the first day he came to practice. The boys had picked it up, and now he heard it everywhere. He slid the longsword back into its scabbard. "No,” he replied.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

“So how do you like the taste of your victories now, Lord Snow?”

“Don’t call me that!” Jon said sharply, but the force had gone out of his anger. Suddenly he felt ashamed and guilty. “I never … I didn’t think …”

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

“And the grumkins and the snarks,” Tyrion said. “Let us not forget them, Lord Snow, or else what’s that big thing for?”

“Don’t call me Lord Snow.”

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

She wiped her hands on her skirt. “M'lord—”

“I’m no lord.”

But others had come crowding round, drawn by the woman’s scream and the crash of the rabbit hutch. “Don’t you believe him, girl,” called out Lark the Sisterman, a ranger mean as a cur. “That’s Lord Snow himself.”

—A Clash of Kings - Jon III

“Rise. I have heard much and more of you, Lord Snow.”

“I am no lord, sire.” Jon rose. “I know what you have heard. That I am a turncloak, and craven. That I slew my brother Qhorin Halfhand so the wildlings would spare my life. That I rode with Mance Rayder, and took a wildling wife.”

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XI

“Words. Words are wind. Why do you think I abandoned Dragonstone and sailed to the Wall, Lord Snow?”

“I am no lord, sire. You came because we sent for you, I hope. Though I could not say why you took so long about it.”

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XI

Dunk thinks that Tanselle is prettier than the blonde Lady Ashford. Jon doesn’t compared the blonde Princess Myrcella with anyone, but there is an interesting contrast between calling Princess Myrcella “stupid” & “insipid” and then calling his half sister Sansa “radiant”

The banner-bearer was a tall knight in white scale armor chased with gold, a pure white cloak streaming from his shoulders. Two of the other riders were armored in white from head to heel as well. Kingsguard knights with the royal banner. Small wonder Lord Ashford and his sons came hurrying out the doors of the keep, and the fair maid too, a short girl with yellow hair and a round pink face. She does not seem so fair to me, Dunk thought. The puppet girl was prettier.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

After them came the children. Little Rickon first, managing the long walk with all the dignity a three-year-old could muster. Jon had to urge him on when he stopped to visit. Close behind came Robb, in grey wool trimmed with white, the Stark colors. He had the Princess Myrcella on his arm. She was a wisp of a girl, not quite eight, her hair a cascade of golden curls under a jeweled net. Jon noticed the shy looks she gave Robb as they passed between the tables and the timid way she smiled at him. He decided she was insipid. Robb didn't even have the sense to realize how stupid she was; he was grinning like a fool.

His half sisters escorted the royal princes. Arya was paired with plump young Tommen, whose white-blond hair was longer than hers. Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon's vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister's hair and his mother's deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey's pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell's Great Hall.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

Talking about Tanselle and Lady Ashford, both girls share parallels with Sansa Stark:

Sansa Stark and Lady Ashford

Sansa and Lady Ashford are noble ladies.

Sansa and Lady Ashford are of the same age.

Sansa and Lady Ashford are associated with tourneys.

Lady Ashford was the reigning Queen of Love and Beauty during the Tourney at Ashford Meadow, while Sansa was unofficially crowned as the Queen of Love and Beauty during the Hand’s Tourney.  

Lady Ashford’s original champions were Androw Ashford, Robert Ashford, Lord Leo Tyrell, Ser Humfrey Hardyng and Prince Valarr Targaryen.

Ser Tybolt Lannister defeated Ser Androw Ashford, Ser Lyonel Baratheon defeated Ser Robert Ashford.  A Lannister and a Baratheon defeating Lady Ashford’s older brothers remind us of Tywin Lannister and Joffrey Baratheon conspiring to kill Sansa Stark’s father (Ned) and brother (Robb).   

The last five champions after the first day of jousting during the Tourney at Ashford Meadow were Ser Tybolt Lannister, Ser Lyonel Baratheon, Lord Leo Tyrell, Ser Humfrey Hardyng and Prince Valarr Targaryen.

Sansa’s suitors surnames match the surnames of the last five champions after the first day of jousting during the Tourney at Ashford Meadow. 

Sansa Stark and Tanselle Too-Tall

Sansa and Tanselle are tall girls.

Sansa and Tanselle are familiar with the tales of Florian and Jonquil.

Tanselle plays Jonquil in the puppets play, while a fat woman plays Florian.

Sansa saves Dontos Hollard’s life. Dontos was an old, fat, drunk knight turned fool.  

Dontos calls Sansa Jonquil and plays to be Sansa’s Florian, Sansa also called Dontos her Florian, but she would prefer him to be younger, like the real Florian.

Dunk defended Tanselle from Prince Aerion Targaryen, a character with some similarities with Joffrey Baratheon.

Dontos, as a fool, try to distract Joffrey and defend Sansa while she was being beaten and later helped her to scape King’s Landing. 

Dunk and Jon know how to treat a girl 

(This could be nothing but I know a character that is called “good girl” and “sweet lady” a lot)

Also take note that by selling Sweetfoot, Dunk got his own armor.

It was cool and dim in the stables. An unruly grey stallion snapped at him as he passed, but Sweetfoot only whickered softly and nuzzled his hand when he raised it to her nose. "You're a good girl, aren't you?" he murmured. The old man always said that a knight should never love a horse, since more than a few were like to die under him, but he never heeded his own counsel either. Dunk had often seen him spend his last copper on an apple for old Chestnut or some oats for Sweetfoot and Thunder. The palfrey had been Ser Arlan's riding horse, and she had borne him tirelessly over thousands of miles, all up and down the Seven Kingdoms. Dunk felt as though he were betraying an old friend, but what choice did he have? Chestnut was too old to be worth much of anything, and Thunder must carry him in the lists.

(...)

Dunk stroked Sweetfoot’s mane and told her to be brave. “If I win, I’ll come back and buy you again, I promise.” 

(...)

Dunk handed a few of the coppers right back, and nodded at Sweetfoot. “That’s for her,” he said. “See that she has some oats tonight. Aye, and an apple too.”

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

The mare whickered softly as Jon Snow tightened the cinch. “Easy, sweet lady,” he said in a soft voice, quieting her with a touch. Wind whispered through the stable, a cold dead breath on his face, but Jon paid it no mind. He strapped his roll to the saddle, his scarred fingers stiff and clumsy.

“Ghost,” he called softly, “to me.” And the wolf was there, eyes like embers.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon IX

Dreams of a highborn lady 

While Dunk wishes to have sex with a highborn lady instead of paying a whore for sex, Jon wishes his mother were a highborn lady and not a whore

Dunk stopped to watch the wooden dragon slain. When the puppet knight cut its head off and the red sawdust spilled out onto the grass, he laughed aloud and threw the girl two coppers. "One for last night," he called. She caught the coins in the air and threw him back a smile as sweet as any he had ever seen.

Is it me she smiles at, or the coins? Dunk had never been with a girl, and they made him nervous. Once, three years past, when the old man's purse was full after half a year in the service of blind Lord Florent, he'd told Dunk the time had come to take him to a brothel and make him a man. He'd been drunk, though, and when he was sober he did not remember. Dunk had been too embarrassed to remind him.

He was not certain he wanted a whore anyway. If he could not have a highborn maiden like a proper knight, he wanted one who at least liked him more than his silver.

(...)

Wet to the knee, he trudged past the empty lists. Most of the pavilions were dark, their owners long asleep, but here and there a few candles still burned. Dunk heard soft moans and cries of pleasure coming from within one tent. It made him wonder whether he would die without ever having known a maid.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

"Words won't make your mother a whore. She was what she was, and nothing Toad says can change that. You know, we have men on the Wall whose mothers were whores."

Not my mother, Jon thought stubbornly. He knew nothing of his mother; Eddard Stark would not talk of her. Yet he dreamed of her at times, so often that he could almost see her face. In his dreams, she was beautiful, and highborn, and her eyes were kind.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

A red-haired whore 

The same way Dunk almost lost his virginity with a whore, the Jon Snow from the Show almost lost his virginity with a red-haired whore named Ros ¿Maybe the Show took inspiration for that scene from this passage to create Ros? 

The winesellers and sausage makers were doing a brisk trade, and whores walked brazenly among the stalls and pavilions. Some were pretty enough, one red-haired girl in particular. He could not help staring at her breasts, the way they moved under her loose shift as she sauntered past. He thought of the silver in his pouch. I could have her, if I liked. She'd like the clink of my coin well enough, I could take her back to my camp and have her, all night if I wanted. He had never lain with a woman, and for all he knew he might die in his first tilt. Tourneys could be dangerous . . . but whores could be dangerous too, the old man had warned him of that. She might rob me while I slept, and what would I do then? When the red-haired girl glanced back over her shoulder at him, Dunk shook his head and walked away.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

Sam: I’ve never… been with one. You’ve probably had hundreds. Jon: No. As a matter of fact, I’m the same as you. Sam: Yeah. Yeah, I… I find that hard to believe. Jon: I came very close once. I was alone in a room with a naked girl, but… Sam: Didn’t know where to put it? Jon: I know where to put it. Sam: Was she… old and ugly? Jon: Young and gorgeous. A whore named Ros. Sam: What colour hair? Jon: Red. Sam: Oh, I like red hair. And her, um… Her… (boobs) Jon: You don’t want to know. Sam: What, that good? Jon: Better. Sam: Oh, no. So why exactly did you not make love to Ros with the perfect? Jon: What’s my name? Sam: Jon Snow. Jon: And why is my surname Snow? Sam: Because… you’re a bastard from the North. Jon: I never met my mother. My father wouldn’t even tell me her name. I don’t know if she’s living or dead. I don’t know if she’s a noblewoman or a fisherman’s wife… or a whore. So I sat there in the brothel as Ros took off her clothes. But I couldn’t do it. Because all I could think was what if I got her pregnant and she had a child, another bastard named Snow? It’s not a good life for a child.

—GOT S01E04 – Cripples Bastards and Broken Things

Complaining about getting bad seats

On the eastern verge of the meadow, a quintain had been set up and a dozen knights were tilting at it, sending the pole arm spinning every time they struck the splintered shield suspended from one end. Dunk watched the Brute of Bracken take his turn, and then Lord Caron of the Marches. I do not have as good a seat as any of them, he thought uneasily.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

There were times—not many, but a few—when Jon Snow was glad he was a bastard. As he filled his wine cup once more from a passing flagon, it struck him that this might be one of them.

He settled back in his place on the bench among the younger squires and drank. The sweet, fruity taste of summerwine filled his mouth and brought a smile to his lips.

The Great Hall of Winterfell was hazy with smoke and heavy with the smell of roasted meat and fresh-baked bread. Its grey stone walls were draped with banners. White, gold, crimson: the direwolf of Stark, Baratheon's crowned stag, the lion of Lannister. A singer was playing the high harp and reciting a ballad, but down at this end of the hall his voice could scarcely be heard above the roar of the fire, the clangor of pewter plates and cups, and the low mutter of a hundred drunken conversations.

It was the fourth hour of the welcoming feast laid for the king. Jon's brothers and sisters had been seated with the royal children, beneath the raised platform where Lord and Lady Stark hosted the king and queen. In honor of the occasion, his lord father would doubtless permit each child a glass of wine, but no more than that. Down here on the benches, there was no one to stop Jon drinking as much as he had a thirst for. —A Game of Thrones - Jon I

"Then you saw us all. Prince Joffrey and Prince Tommen, Princess Myrcella, my brothers Robb and Bran and Rickon, my sisters Arya and Sansa. You saw them walk the center aisle with every eye upon them and take their seats at the table just below the dais where the king and queen were seated."

"I remember."

"And did you see where I was seated, Mance?" He leaned forward. "Did you see where they put the bastard?"

Mance Rayder looked at Jon's face for a long moment. "I think we had best find you a new cloak," the king said, holding out his hand.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon I

Dunk and Jon admire the same heroes

Dunk stared at the grassy lists and the empty chairs on the viewing stand and pondered his chances. One victory was all he needed; then he could name himself one of the champions of Ashford Meadow, if only for an hour. The old man had lived nigh on sixty years and had never been a champion. It is not too much to hope for, if the gods are good. He thought back on all the songs he had heard, songs of blind Symeon Star-Eyes and noble Serwyn of the Mirror Shield, of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, Ser Ryam Redywne, and Florian the Fool. They had all won victories against foes far more terrible than any he would face. But they were great heroes, brave men of noble birth, except for Florian. And what am I?

Dunk of Flea Bottom? Or Ser Duncan the Tall?

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

“Daeren Targaryen was only fourteen when he conquered Dorne,” Jon said. The Young Dragon was one of his heroes.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

Yet he saw the castle clear in his mind's eye, as if he had left it only yesterday; the towering granite walls, the Great Hall with its smells of smoke and dog and roasting meat, his father's solar, the turret room where he had slept. Part of him wanted nothing so much as to hear Bran laugh again, to sup on one of Gage's beef-and-bacon pies, to listen to Old Nan tell her tales of the children of the forest and Florian the Fool.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon IX

Every morning they had trained together, since they were big enough to walk; Snow and Stark, spinning and slashing about the wards of Winterfell, shouting and laughing, sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes. "I'm Prince Aemon the Dragonknight," Jon would call out, and Robb would shout back, "Well, I'm Florian the Fool." Or Robb would say, "I'm the Young Dragon," and Jon would reply, "I'm Ser Ryam Redwyne."

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XII

A dragon that doesn’t look like a dragon

The meadow was a churning mass of people, all trying to elbow their way closer for a better view. Dunk was as good an elbower as any, and bigger than most. He squirmed forward to a rise six yards from the fence. When Egg complained that all he could see were arses, Dunk sat the boy on his shoulders. Across the field, the viewing stand was filling up with highborn lords and ladies, a few rich townfolk, and a score of knights who had decided not to compete today. Of Prince Maekar he saw no sign, but he recognized Prince Baelor at Lord Ashford's side. Sunlight flashed golden off the shoulder clasp that held his cloak and the slim coronet about his temples, but otherwise he dressed far more simply than most of the other lords. He does not look a Targaryen in truth, with that dark hair. Dunk said as much to Egg.

"It's said he favors his mother," the boy reminded him. "She was a Dornish princess."

(...)

A few feet away, the Young Prince [Valarr Targaryen] sat at his ease in a raised camp chair before his great black tent. His helm was off. He had dark hair like his father, but a bright streak ran through it. A servingman brought him a silver goblet and he took a sip. Water, if he is wise, Dunk thought, wine if not. He found himself wondering if Valarr had indeed inherited a measure of his father's prowess, or whether it had only been that he had drawn the weakest opponent.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son. 

—A Game of Thrones - Tyrion II

She might have overlooked a dozen bastards for Ned’s sake, so long as they were out of sight. Jon was never out of sight, and as he grew, he looked more like Ned than any of the trueborn sons she bore him.

—A Game of Thrones - Catelyn II

“A shade more exhausting than needlework,” Jon observed.

“A shade more fun than needlework,” Arya gave back at him. Jon grinned, reached over, and messed up her hair. Arya flushed. They had always been close. Jon had their father’s face, as she did.

—A Game of Thrones - Arya I

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. 

—A Game of Thrones - Sansa I

“Who’s this one now?“ Craster said before Jon could go. “He has the look of a Stark.”

“My steward and squire, Jon Snow.”

—A Clash of Kings - Jon III

Fascinated by a Knight

Dunk was fascinated by a brown haired Targaryen Prince (Like Jon Snow) while Jon was fascinated by a Kingsguard that later became Lord Commander (Like Dunk)

The three challengers took their places as the three champions mounted up. Men were making wagers all around them and calling out encouragement to their choices, but Dunk had eyes only for the prince [Valarr Targaryen]. 

(...)

Farther away, Ser Joseth Mallister was being carried off the field unconscious, while the harp lord and the rose lord were going at each other lustily with blunted longaxes, to the delight of the roaring crowd. Dunk was so intent on Valarr Targaryen that he scarcely saw them. 

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

Ser Jaime Lannister was twin to Queen Cersei; tall and golden, with flashing green eyes and a smile that cut like a knife. He wore crimson silk, high black boots, a black satin cloak. On the breast of his tunic, the lion of his House was embroidered in gold thread, roaring its defiance. They called him the Lion of Lannister to his face and whispered "Kingslayer" behind his back.

Jon found it hard to look away from him. This is what a king should look like, he thought to himself as the man passed.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

Not allowed

A hedge knight cannot challenge a prince. Valarr is second in line to the Iron Throne. He is Baelor Breakspear's son, and his blood is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and the Young Dragon and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, and I am some boy the old man found behind a pot shop in Flea Bottom.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

"Why aren't you down in the yard?" Arya asked him.

He gave her a half smile. “Bastards are not allowed to damage young princes,” he said. "Any bruises they take in the practice yard must come from trueborn swords."

—A Game of Thrones - Arya I

A Death with Honor

He wondered if they expected him to saddle a horse and flee. He could, if he wished. That would be the end of his knighthood, to be sure; he would be no more than an outlaw henceforth, until the day some lord took him and struck off his head. Better to die a knight than live like that, he told himself stubbornly.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

It did not bear thinking about. Pain throbbed, deep in his fingers, as he clutched the reins. Jon put his heels into his horse and broke into a gallop, racing down the kingsroad, as if to outrun his doubts. Jon was not afraid of death, but he did not want to die like that, trussed and bound and beheaded like a common brigand. If he must perish, let it be with a sword in his hand, fighting his father's killers. He was no true Stark, had never been one … but he could die like one. Let them say that Eddard Stark had fathered four sons, not three.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon IX

Warg imagery

I am Thunder and Thunder is me, we are one beast, we are joined, we are one. 

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

When he finally put the quill down, the room was dim and chilly, and he could feel its walls closing in. Perched above the window, the Old Bear's raven peered down at him with shrewd black eyes. My last friend, Jon thought ruefully. And I had best outlive you, or you'll eat my face as well. Ghost did not count. Ghost was closer than a friend. Ghost was part of him.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon III

Ser Alliser Thorne shattered the silence. “The turncloak graces us with his presence at last.”

Lord Janos was red-faced and quivering. “The beast,” he gasped. “Look! The beast that tore the life from Halfhand. A warg walks among us, brothers. A WARG! This … this creature is not fit to lead us! This beastling is not fit to live!”

Ghost bared his teeth, but Jon put a hand on his head. “My lord,” he said, “will you tell me what’s happened here?”

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XII

“Then you had best be on your way, boy.” Slynt laughed, dribbling porridge down his chest. “Greyguard’s a good place for the likes of you, I’m thinking. Well away from decent godly folk. The mark of the beast is on you, bastard.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon II

Dolorous Edd took hold of Slynt by one arm, Iron Emmett by the other. Together they hauled him from the bench. “No,” Lord Janos protested, flecks of porridge spraying from his lips. “No, unhand me. He’s just a boy, a bastard. His father was a traitor. The mark of the beast is on him, that wolf of his … Let go of me! You will rue the day you laid hands on Janos Slynt. I have friends in King’s Landing. I warn you—” He was still protesting as they half-marched, half-dragged him up the steps.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon II

Self doubt 

When his eyes opened he was on the ground again, sprawled on his back. The mud had all been knocked from his helm, but now one eye was closed by blood. Above was nothing but dark grey sky. 

His face throbbed, and he could feel cold wet metal pressing in against cheek and temple. He broke my head, and I'm dying. What was worse was the others who would die with him, Raymun and Prince Baelor and the rest. I've failed them. I am no champion. I'm not even a hedge knight. I am nothing. He remembered Prince Daeron boasting that no one could lie insensible in the mud as well as he did. He never saw Dunk the lunk, though, did he? The shame was worse than the pain.

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

A grim day. Jon Snow wrapped gloved hands around the bars and held tight as the wind hammered at the cage once more. When he looked straight down past his feet, the ground was lost in shadow, as if he were being lowered into some bottomless pit. Well, death is a bottomless pit of sorts, he reflected, and when this day's work is done my name will be shadowed forever.

Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous. Once Jon had meant to prove them wrong, to show his lord father that he could be as good and true a son as Robb. I made a botch of that. Robb had become a hero king; if Jon was remembered at all, it would be as a turncloak, an oathbreaker, and a murderer. He was glad that Lord Eddard was not alive to see his shame.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon X

It should have been you

Valarr, the Young Prince, stood vigil at the foot of the bier while his father lay in state. He was a shorter, slimmer, handsomer version of his sire, without the twice-broken nose that had made Baelor seem more human than royal. Valarr's hair was brown, but a bright streak of silver-gold ran through it. The sight of it reminded Dunk of Aerion, but he knew that was not fair. Egg's hair was growing back as bright as his brother's, and Egg was a decent enough lad, for a prince.

When he stopped to offer awkward sympathies, well larded with thanks, Prince Valarr blinked cool blue eyes at him and said, "My father was only nine-and-thirty. He had it in him to be a great king, the greatest since Aegon the Dragon. Why would the gods take him, and leave you?" He shook his head. "Begone with you, Ser Duncan. Begone."

* * *

"I wanted him to stay here with me," Lady Stark said softly.

Jon watched her, wary. She was not even looking at him. She was talking to him, but for a part of her, it was as though he were not even in the room.

"I prayed for it," she said dully. "He was my special boy. I went to the sept and prayed seven times to the seven faces of god that Ned would change his mind and leave him here with me. Sometimes prayers are answered."

Jon did not know what to say. "It wasn't your fault," he managed after an awkward silence.

Her eyes found him. They were full of poison. "I need none of your absolution, bastard."

Jon lowered his eyes. She was cradling one of Bran's hands. He took the other, squeezed it. Fingers like the bones of birds. "Good-bye," he said.

He was at the door when she called out to him. "Jon," she said. He should have kept going, but she had never called him by his name before. He turned to find her looking at his face, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

"Yes?" he said.

"It should have been you," she told him. Then she turned back to Bran and began to weep, her whole body shaking with the sobs. Jon had never seen her cry before.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon II

Old Gods

Sometimes I sit under that tree there and look at my feet and ask if I couldn’t have spared one. How could my foot be worth a prince’s life? And the other two as well, the Humfreys, they were good men too.” Ser Humfrey Hardyng had succumbed to his wounds only last night.

“And what answer does your tree give you?”

“None that I can hear.”

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

Even now, he did not know if he was doing the honorable thing. The southron had it easier. They had their septons to talk to, someone to tell them the gods' will and help sort out right from wrong. But the Starks worshiped the old gods, the nameless gods, and if the heart trees heard, they did not speak.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon IX

A Tree on a Shield

Dunk’s sigil was an elm tree with a shooting star above, while the Mystery Knight called The Knight of the Laughing Tree [Jon’s mother Lyanna Stark] was a weirwood tree with a laughing red face

“What color paint do you have?” he asked, hoping that might give him an idea.

“I can mix paints to make any color you want.”

The old man’s brown had always seemed drab to Dunk. “The field should be the color of sunset,” he said suddenly. “The old man liked sunsets. And the device…”

“An elm tree,” said Egg. “A big elm tree, like the one by the pool, with a brown trunk and green branches.”

“Yes,” Dunk said. “That would serve. An elm tree…but with a shooting star above. Could you do that?”

The girl nodded. “Give me the shield. I’ll paint it this very night and have it back to you on the morrow.”

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

But late on the afternoon of that second day, as the shadows grew long, a mystery knight appeared in the lists.

Bran nodded sagely. [...] “It was the little crannogman, I bet.”

“No one knew,” said Meera, “but the mystery knight was short of stature, and clad in ill-fitting armor made up of bits and pieces. The device upon his shield was a heart tree of the old gods, a white weirwood with a laughing red face.”

[...]

“Whoever he was, the old gods gave strength to his arm. The porcupine knight fell first, then the pitchfork knight, and lastly the knight of the two towers. None were well loved, so the common folk cheered lustily for the Knight of the Laughing Tree, as the new champion soon was called.”

—A Storm of Swords - Bran II

Dragonflies or Dragons

“That can be changed,” said Maekar. “Aegon is to return to my castle at Summerhall. There is a place there for you, if you wish. A knight of my household. You’ll swear your sword to me, and Aegon can squire for you. While you train him, my master-at-arms will finish your own training.” The prince gave him a shrewd look. “Your Ser Arlan did all he could for you, I have no doubt, but you still have much to learn.”

“I know, m'lord.” Dunk looked about him. At the green grass and the reeds, the tall elm, the ripples dancing across the surface of the sunlit pool. Another dragonfly was moving across the water, or perhaps it was the same one. What shall it be, Dunk? he asked himself. Dragonflies or dragons? A few days ago he would have answered at once. It was all he had ever dreamed, but now that the prospect was at hand it frightened him. “ Just before Prince Baelor died, I swore to be his man.”

"Presumptuous of you," said Maekar. "What did he say?"

"That the realm needed good men."

"That's true enough. What of it?"

"I will take your son as squire, Your Grace, but not at Summerhall. Not for a year or two. He's seen sufficient of castles, I would judge. I'll have him only if I can take him on the road with me." He pointed to old Chestnut. "He'll ride my steed, wear my old cloak, and he'll keep my sword sharp and my mail scoured. We'll sleep in inns and stables, and now and again in the halls of some landed knight or lesser lordling, and maybe under trees when we must."

—The Hedge Knight

* * *

He wanted it, Jon knew then. He wanted it as much as he had ever wanted anything. I have always wanted it, he thought, guiltily. May the gods forgive me. 

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XII

Jon said, “Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa.”

“I have heard all I need to hear of Lady Lannister and her claim." The king set the cup aside. "You could bring the north to me. Your father's bannermen would rally to the son of Eddard Stark. Even Lord Too-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse. White Harbor would give me a ready source of supply and a secure base to which I could retreat at need. It is not too late to amend your folly, Snow. Take a knee and swear that bastard sword to me, and rise as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North.”

How many times will he make me say it? "My sword is sworn to the Night's Watch.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon IV

The Prince of Dragonflies

As you can see, The Hedge Knight is a tale full of Dragonflies and Dragons imagery around Ser Duncan the Tall. And this dichotomy repeated with Prince Duncan the Small.      

Years later of his adventures as the Squire of Ser Duncan the Tall, Egg became Aegon V Targaryen, and named his first born Duncan Targaryen, probably in honor of Ser Duncan the Tall.   

Prince Duncan Targaryen was the heir to the Iron Throne, the Prince of Dragonstone, also known as Prince Duncan the Small. But since he gave up the throne for love in order to marry Jenny of Oldstones, he began to be known as the Prince of Dragonflies.

Prince Duncan Targaryen favored her mother’s Betha Blackwood features and had dark hair, like Jon Snow.

The Black Prince and the White Guardian

In my unfinished meta about the Tourney at Ashford Meadow, I argue that the two facets of Jon Snow: bastard and hidden prince, are represented in this tale by Dunk and Valarr. 

This is one of my favorite findings since I started writing ASOIAF metas.  I shared this one with some of you, the seven gods know this unfinished work has more than 3 years in the making... So here you go.    

Valarr is called The Black Prince and the White Guardian:

Ser Joseth thumped on Ser Humfrey Hardyng's diamonds. And the black-and-white knight, Lord Gawen Swann, challenged the black prince with the white guardian.

—The Hedge Knight

And this is a clear reference to Jon Snow, the black prince, and Ghost, his white guardian:

Robb looked relieved. "Good." He smiled. "The next time I see you, you'll be all in black."

Jon forced himself to smile back. "It was always my color. How long do you think it will be?"

—A Game of Thrones - Jon II

He was clad in black from head to heel; high leather riding boots, roughspun breeches and tunic, sleeveless leather jerkin, and heavy wool cloak. His longsword and dagger were sheathed in black moleskin, and the hauberk and coif in his saddlebag were black ringmail.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon IX

Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist. As the dead men reached the top of the Wall he sent them down to die again.

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XII

"He must have crawled away from the others," Jon said.

"Or been driven away," their father said, looking at the sixth pup. His fur was white, where the rest of the litter was grey.

—A Game of Thrones - Bran I

And suddenly Ghost was back, stalking softly between two weirwoods. White fur and red eyes, Jon realized, disquieted. Like the trees …

—A Game of Thrones - Jon VI

Red eyes, red mouth, white fur. Blood and bone, like a heart tree. He belongs to the old gods, this one.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XII

I have more reasons to believe that GRRM wrote Valarr as a representation of Jon Snow. George purposely created Valarr with certain features to make us think about Jon Snow. These reasons find solid ground in a particular work of literature that George has declared it served him as inspiration to write ASOIAF. Maybe One day I will finish this meta and I will show you all.  

For now, lets go to the second tale...

* * *

THE SWORN SWORD

This tale is full of  love, romance and marriage imagery, doomed romances, forbidden romances, unrequited loves, lost loves, platonic loves, sexual loves, marriages alliances, loveless marriages, unfruitful marriages and lovers farewells.   

A Mysterious Red Lady

Rohanne Webber, Lady of Codlmoat, also known as the Red Widow, is a character that reminds us several women that crossed paths with Jon Snow 

Dunk wanted no trouble with the Lady of the Coldmoat. At Standfast you heard ill things of her. The Red Widow, she was called, for the husbands she had put into the ground. Old Sam Stoops said she was a witch, a poisoner, and worse. 

Two years ago she had sent her knights across the stream to seize an Osgrey man for stealing sheep. “When m’lord rode to Coldmoat to demand him back, he was told to look for him at the bottom of the moat,” Sam had said. “She’d sewn poor Dake in a bag o’ rocks and sunk him. ’Twas after that Ser Eustace took Ser Bennis into service, to keep them spiders off his lands.”

(...)

Egg drew water to fill it for the third time, then clambered back onto the well. "You'd best not take any food or drink at Coldmoat, ser. The Red Widow poisoned all her husbands."

(...)

“Whenever she gives birth, a demon comes by night to carry off the issue. Sam Stoops’s wife says she sold her babes unborn to the Lord of the Seven Hells, so he’d teach her his black arts.”

“Highborn ladies don’t meddle with the black arts. They dance and sing and do embroidery.”

“Maybe she dances with demons and embroiders evil spells,” Egg said with relish. “And how would you know what highborn ladies do, ser? Lady Vaith is the only one you ever knew.”

(...)

“You’ve known queens and princesses. Did they dance with demons and practice the black arts?”

“Lady Shiera does. Lord Bloodraven’s paramour. She bathes in blood to keep her beauty. And once my sister Rhae put a love potion in my drink, so I’d marry her instead of my sister Daella.” 

—The Sworn Sword 

The wicked reputation of the Red Widow, makes me think about another red haired woman with a wicked reputation, Danelle Lothston, Lady of Harrenhal, also known as Mad Danelle. 

And talking about Harrenhal, Mad Danelle is probably an ancestor of Lady Minisa Whent, that later became Lady Minsa Tully, the mother of Lady Catelyn Tully, that later became Lady Catelyn Stark, the mother of Lady Sansa Stark, Jon Snow’s radiant and red haired half sister, another redhead with certain reputation:  

He smiled at her. “Now, wolf girl, if you can put a name to me as well, then I must concede that you are truly our Hand’s daughter.”

—AGOT - Sansa I

“I forgot, you’ve been hiding under a rock. The northern girl. Winterfell’s daughter. We heard she killed the king with a spell, and afterward changed into a wolf with big leather wings like a bat, and flew out a tower window. But she left the dwarf behind and Cersei means to have his head.”

—ASOS - Arya XIII

“May the Father judge him justly,” murmured a septon.

“The dwarf’s wife did the murder with him,” swore an archer in Lord Rowan’s livery. “Afterward, she vanished from the hall in a puff of brimstone, and a ghostly direwolf was seen prowling the Red Keep, blood dripping from his jaws.”

—ASOS - Jaime VII

“Your Grace has forgotten the Lady Sansa,” said Pycelle.

The queen bristled. “I most certainly have not forgotten that little she-wolf.” She refused to say the girl’s name. “I ought to have shown her to the black cells as the daughter of a traitor, but instead I made her part of mine own household. She shared my hearth and hall, played with my own children. I fed her, dressed her, tried to make her a little less ignorant about the world, and how did she repay me for my kindness? She helped murder my son.

—AFFC - Cersei IV

A man’s pride

“Common boys fight with wooden swords too, only theirs are sticks and broken branches. Egg, these men may seem fools to you. They won’t know the proper names for bits of armor, or the arms of the great houses, or which king it was who abolished the lord’s right to the first night…but treat them with respect all the same. You are a squire born of noble blood, but you are still a boy. Most of them will be men grown. A man has his pride, no matter how lowborn he may be. You would seem just as lost and stupid in their villages. And if you doubt that, go hoe a row and shear a sheep, and tell me the names of all the weeds and wildflowers in Wat’s Wood.”

The boy considered for a moment. “I could teach them the arms of the great houses, and how Queen Alysanne convinced King Jaehaerys to abolish the first night. And they could teach me which weeds are best for making poisons, and whether those green berries are safe to eat.”

—The Sworn Sword 

* * *

It is too cold for this mummer's show, thought Jon. “The free folk despise kneelers,” he had warned Stannis. "Let them keep their pride, and they will love you better." His Grace would not listen. He said, "It is swords I need from them, not kisses."

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon III

Dunk has dreams with dead Targaryen Princes while Jon has dreams with dead Stark Kings 

You are dead, Dunk wanted to scream, you are all three dead, why won’t you leave me be? Ser Arlan had died of a chill, Prince Baelor of the blow his brother dealt him during Dunk’s trial of seven, his son Valarr during the Great Spring Sickness. I am not to blame for that. We were in Dorne, we never even knew.

(...)

“Begone with you, Ser Duncan,” Valarr said. “Begone.”

—The Sworn Sword 

* * *

He dreamt he was back in Winterfell, limping past the stone kings on their thrones. Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed, and their grey granite fingers tightened on the hilts of the rusted swords upon their laps. You are no Stark, he could hear them mutter, in heavy granite voices. There is no place for you here. Go away. He walked deeper into the darkness. 

—A Storm of Swords - Jon VIII

Egg taught Dunk how to talk to a lady the same way Sansa taught  Jon how to talk to a lady  

“I don’t know how to talk with highborn ladies,” he confessed as they were pouring. “We both might have been killed in Dorne, on account of what I said to Lady Vaith.”

“Lady Vaith was mad,” Egg reminded him, “but you could have been more gallant. Ladies like it when you’re gallant. If you were to rescue the Red Widow the way you rescued that puppet girl from Aerion…”

“Aerion’s in Lys, and the widow’s not in want of rescuing.” He did not want to talk of Tanselle. Tanselle Too-Tall was her name, but she was not too tall for me.

“Well,” the boy said, “some knights sing gallant songs to their ladies, or play them tunes upon a lute.”

“I have no lute.” Dunk looked morose. “And that night I drank too much in the Planky Town, you told me I sang like an ox in a mud wallow.”

“I had forgotten, ser.”

“How could you forget?”

“You told me to forget, ser,” said Egg, all innocence. “You told me I’d get a clout in the ear the next time I mentioned it.”

“There will be no singing.” Even if he had the voice for it, the only song Dunk knew all the way through was “The Bear, the Bear, and the Maiden Fair.” He doubted that would do much to win over Lady Webber. 

(...)

“I thought how you should speak to Lady Webber, ser. You should win her to your side with gallant compliments.” The boy looked as cool and crisp in his chequy tunic as Ser Eustace had in his cloak.

Am I the only one who sweats? “Gallant compliments,” Dunk echoed. “What sort of gallant compliments?”

“You know, ser. Tell her how fair and beautiful she is.”

Dunk had doubts. “She’s outlived four husbands, she must be as old as Lady Vaith. If I say she’s fair and beautiful when she’s old and warty, she will take me for a liar.”

“You just need to find something true to say about her. That’s what my brother Daeron does. Even ugly old whores can have nice hair or well-shaped ears, he says.”

“Well-shaped ears?” Dunk’s doubts were growing.

“Or pretty eyes. Tell her that her gown brings out the color of her eyes.” The lad reflected for a moment. “Unless she only has the one eye, like Lord Bloodraven.”

“My lady, that gown brings out the color of your eye. Dunk had heard knights and lordlings mouth such gallantries at other ladies. They never put it quite so baldly, though. Good lady, that gown is beautiful. It brings out the color of both your lovely eyes. Some of the ladies had been old and scrawny, or fat and florid, or pox-scarred and homely, but all wore gowns and had two eyes, and as Dunk recalled, they’d been well pleased by the flowery words. What a lovely gown, my lady. It brings out the lovely beauty of your beautiful-colored eyes. “A hedge knight’s life is simpler,” Dunk said glumly. “If I say the wrong thing, she’s like to sew me in a sack of rocks and throw me in her moat.”

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

"Black brothers are sworn never to take wives, don't you know that? And we're guests in your father's hall besides."

"Not you," she said. "I watched. You never ate at his board, nor slept by his fire. He never gave you guest-right, so you're not bound to him. It's for the baby I have to go."

"I don't even know your name."

"Gilly, he called me. For the gillyflower."

"That's pretty." He remembered Sansa telling him once that he should say that whenever a lady told him her name. He could not help the girl, but perhaps the courtesy would please her. "Is it Craster who frightens you, Gilly?"

—A Clash of Kings - Jon III

Marrying a Lady

In another world, Dunk could get married with a lady, like Alysanne Osgrey or Rohanne Webber

“You are a good man, Ser Duncan. A brave knight, and true.” Ser Eustace gave Dunk’s arm a squeeze. “Would that the gods had spared my Alysanne. You are the sort of man I had always hoped that she might marry. A true knight, Ser Duncan. A true knight.”

(...)

“Ser Eustace said I was the sort of man he’d hoped to have his daughter wed. Her name was Alysanne.”

“She’s dead, ser.”

“I know she’s dead,” said Dunk, annoyed. “If she was alive, he said. If she was, he’d like her to marry me. Or someone like me. I never had a lord offer me his daughter before.”

“His dead daughter. And the Osgreys might have been lords in the old days, but Ser Eustace is only a landed knight.”

“I know what he is. Do you want a clout in the ear?”

“Well,” said Egg, “I’d sooner have a clout than a wife. Especially a dead wife, ser. The kettle’s steaming.”

(...)

Egg drew water to fill it for the third time, then clambered back onto the well. "You'd best not take any food or drink at Coldmoat, ser. The Red Widow poisoned all her husbands."

"I'm not like to marry her. She's a highborn lady, and I'm Dunk of Flea Bottom, remember?" He frowned. "Just how many husbands has she had, do you know?"

“Four,” said Egg, “but no children.

(...)

“You wanted blood for blood.” He laid the dagger against his cheek. “They told you wrong. It wasn’t Bennis cut that digger, it was me.” He pressed the edge of the steel into his face, slashed downward. When he shook the blood off the blade some spattered on her face. More freckles, he thought. “There, the Red Widow has her due. A cheek for a cheek.”

“You are quite mad.” The smoke had filled her eyes with tears. “If you were better born, I’d marry you.”

“Aye, m’lady. And if pigs had wings and scales and breathed flame, they’d be as good as dragons.” 

—The Sworn Sword

Maybe I’m seeing too much here, but the reference to Alysanne Osgrey [Os-Grey] makes me think of Sansa Stark, because: 

Sansa shared a lot of parallels with Good Queen Alysanne. 

The surname Osgrey has the word grey in it. 

Alysanne Osgrey became a Silent Sister. 

Silent Sisters wear always grey. 

Silent Sisters are known as the Stranger's wives. 

According to Melissandre, the Grey Girl of her visions is Jon Snow’s Sister. 

The Grey Girl will probably be Sansa Stark. 

Grey is also the color of House Stark, so Sansa is, in a way, a Grey Girl.

Jon is a man that will defeat death and come back to life, like the Stranger that walks between the two worlds. 

The Stranger’s face is half animal, like Jon who is a warg, half man and half beast.     

In another world, Jon also could get married Ygritte, without the cultural and social barriers that separate them.

A Lady Mother

In another world, Rohanne could be... Dunk’s mother?

“If his daughter wasn’t dead, he’d want me to marry her. Then you could be my lady mother. I never had a mother, much less a lady mother.”

—The Sworn Sword

The parallel with Jon wishing his mother were a highborn lady is plain, but it’s funny how Dunk was resented with Rohanne for marrying Ser Eustace Osgrey, which reminds me of Jon being resented with “his father’s redhead wife”, Catelyn Stark.     

Marrying a Sister / Bedding a Sister

“You’ve known queens and princesses. Did they dance with demons and practice the black arts?”

“Lady Shiera does. Lord Bloodraven’s paramour. She bathes in blood to keep her beauty. And once my sister Rhae put a love potion in my drink, so I’d marry her instead of my sister Daella.”

Egg spoke as if such incest was the most natural thing in the world. For him it is. The Targaryens had been marrying brother to sister for hundreds of years, to keep the blood of the dragon pure. Though the last actual dragon had died before Dunk was born, the dragonkings went on. Maybe the gods don’t mind them marrying their sisters. “Did the potion work?” Dunk asked.

“It would have,” said Egg, “but I spit it out. 

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

Ygritte pushed herself onto an elbow. “I am nineteen, and a spearwife, and kissed by fire. How could I be maiden?”

“Who was he?”

“A boy at a feast, five years past. He’d come trading with his brothers, and he had hair like mine, kissed by fire, so I thought he would be lucky. But he was weak. When he came back t’ try and steal me, Longspear broke his arm and ran him off, and he never tried again, not once.”

“It wasn’t Longspear, then?” Jon was relieved. He liked Longspear, with his homely face and friendly ways.

She punched him. “That’s vile. Would you bed your sister?”

“Longspear’s not your brother.”

“He’s of my village. You know nothing, Jon Snow. A true man steals a woman from afar, t’ strengthen the clan. Women who bed brothers or fathers or clan kin offend the gods, and are cursed with weak and sickly children. Even monsters.”

—A Storm of Swords - Jon III

Joining a celibate brotherhood

This conversation between Dunk and Egg resemblances a conversation between Benjen and Jon  

I don’t want a wife, I want to be a knight of the Kingsguard and live only to serve and defend the king. The Kingsguard are sworn not to wed.”

“That’s a noble thing, but when you’re older you may find you’d sooner have a girl than a white cloak.” Dunk was thinking of Tanselle Too-Tall, and the way she’d smiled at him at Ashford.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

"I want to serve in the Night's Watch, Uncle."

He had thought on it long and hard, lying abed at night while his brothers slept around him. Robb would someday inherit Winterfell, would command great armies as the Warden of the North. Bran and Rickon would be Robb's bannermen and rule holdfasts in his name. His sisters Arya and Sansa would marry the heirs of other great houses and go south as mistress of castles of their own. But what place could a bastard hope to earn?

"You don't know what you're asking, Jon. The Night's Watch is a sworn brotherhood. We have no families. None of us will ever father sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor."

"A bastard can have honor too," Jon said. "I am ready to swear your oath."

"You are a boy of fourteen," Benjen said. "Not a man, not yet. Until you have known a woman, you cannot understand what you would be giving up."

"I don't care about that!" Jon said hotly.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

You’re not going...

Another conversation between Dunk and Egg that resemblances a conversation between Benjen and Jon 

You will stay and help Bennis with the smallfolk, he told Egg. And don’t give me that sullen look. He kicked his breeches off and climbed into the tub of steaming water. Go on and get to sleep now, and let me have my bath. You’re not going, and that’s the end of it

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

Three days after their arrival, Jon had heard that Benjen Stark was to lead a half-dozen men on a ranging into the haunted forest. That night he sought out his uncle in the great timbered common hall and pleaded to go with him. Benjen refused him curtly. "This is not Winterfell," he told him as he cut his meat with fork and dagger. "On the Wall, a man gets only what he earns. You're no ranger, Jon, only a green boy with the smell of summer still on you."

—A Game of Thrones - Jon III

Warg imagery again...

This old master of yours, the knight of Pennytree…did he fight in the Blackfyre Rebellion? He did, m’lord. Before he took me on. Dunk had been no more than 3 or 4 at the time, running half-naked through the alleys of Flea Bottom, more animal than boy. 

—The Sworn Sword

Dunk’s age and the line “more animal than a boy” reminds me of Rickon Stark, but it’s also another warg reference. And after coming back to life, Jon Snow will probably be more animal than man.     

Usurping another’s place 

Roger of Pennytree is to Dunk, what Robb is to Jon

“Ser Arlan never liked to speak about the battle. His squire died there too. Roger of Pennytree was his name, Ser Arlan’s sister’s son.” Even saying the name made Dunk feel vaguely guilty. I stole his place. Only princes and great lords had the means to keep two squires. If Aegon the Unworthy had given his sword to his heir Daeron instead of his bastard Daemon, there might never have been a Blackfyre Rebellion, and Roger of Pennytree might be alive today. He would be a knight someplace, a truer knight than me. I would have ended on the gallows, or been sent off to the Night’s Watch to walk the Wall until I died.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

Robb had become a hero king; if Jon was remembered at all, it would be as a turncloak, an oathbreaker, and a murderer. He was glad that Lord Eddard was not alive to see his shame.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon X

When Jon had been very young, too young to understand what it meant to be a bastard, he used to dream that one day Winterfell might be his. Later, when he was older, he had been ashamed of those dreams. Winterfell would go to Robb and then his sons, or to Bran or Rickon should Robb die childless. And after them came Sansa and Arya. Even to dream otherwise seemed disloyal, as if he were betraying them in his heart, wishing for their deaths. I never wanted this, he thought as he stood before the blue-eyed king and the red woman. I loved Robb, loved all of them . . . I never wanted any harm to come to any of them, but it did. And now there's only me. All he had to do was say the word, and he would be Jon Stark, and nevermore a Snow. All he had to do was pledge this king his fealty, and Winterfell was his. All he had to do . . .

. . . was forswear his vows again.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon XI

Dunk met Rohanne Webber the same way Jon met Ygritte, they confused them with another person. And Lucas Inchfield is the Orell of this tale   

Nearby a squire was loosing shafts at the archery butts, while a freckled girl with a long braid matched him shot for shot. 

(...)

…and one soft, fleshy lady of high birth, garbed in a gown of dark blue damask trimmed with Myrish lace, so long its hems were trailing in the dirt. Dunk judged her to be forty. Beneath a spun-silver net her auburn hair was piled high, but the reddest thing about her was her face.

“My lady,” Ser Lucas said, when they stood before her and her septas, “this hedge knight claims to bring a message from Ser Eustace Osgrey. Will you hear it?”

“If you wish it, Ser Lucas.” She peered at Dunk so hard that he could not help but recall Egg’s talk of sorcery. I don’t think this one bathes in blood to keep her beauty. The widow was stout and square, with an oddly pointed head that her hair could not quite conceal. Her nose was too big, and her mouth too small. She did have two eyes, he was relieved to see, but all thought of gallantry had abandoned Dunk by then. “Ser Eustace bid me talk with you concerning the recent trouble at your dam.”

(...)

“M’lady, could we continue our discussion in some…more private place?”

“A silver says the great oaf means to bed her!” someone japed, and a roar of laughter went up all around him. The lady cringed away, half in terror, and raised both hands to shield her face. One of the septas moved quickly to her side and put a protective arm around her shoulders.

“And what is all this merriment?” The voice cut through the laughter, cool and firm. “Will no one share the jape? Ser knight, why are you troubling my good-sister?”

“It was the girl he had seen earlier at the archery butts. She had a quiver of arrows on one hip and held a longbow that was just as tall as she was, which wasn’t very tall. If Dunk was shy an inch of seven feet, the archer was shy an inch of five. He could have spanned her waist with his two hands. Her red hair was bound up in a braid so long it brushed past her thighs, and she had a dimpled chin, a snub nose, and a light spray of freckles across her cheeks.

“Forgive us, Lady Rohanne.” The speaker was a pretty young lord with the Caswell centaur embroidered on his doublet. “This great oaf took the Lady Helicent for you.”

Dunk looked from one lady to the other. “You are the Red Widow?” he heard himself blurt out. “But you’re too—”

“Young?” The girl tossed her longbow to the lanky lad he’d seen her shooting with. “I am five-and-twenty, as it happens. Or was it small you meant to say?”

“—pretty. It was pretty.” Dunk did not know where that came from, but he was glad it came. He liked her nose, and the strawberry-blond color of her hair, and the small but well-shaped breasts beneath her leather jerkin. “I thought that you’d be…I mean…they said you were four times a widow, so…”

(...)

“I…I am sorry for all your losses, m’lady.” A gallantry, you lunk, give her a gallantry. “I want to say…your gown…”

“Gown?” She glanced down at her boots and breeches, loose linen tunic and leather jerkin. “I wear no gown.”

“Your hair, I meant…it’s soft and…”

“And how would you know that, ser? If you had ever touched my hair, I should think that I might remember.”

“Not soft,” Dunk said miserably. “Red, I meant to say. Your hair is very red.”

“Very red, ser? Oh, not as red as your face, I hope.” She laughed, and the onlookers laughed with her.

All but Ser Lucas Longinch. “My lady,” he broke in, “this man is one of Standfast’s sellswords. He was with Bennis of the Brown Shield when he attacked your diggers at the dam and carved up Wolmer’s face. Old Osgrey sent him to treat with you.”

“He did, m’lady. I am called Ser Duncan the Tall.”

(...)

“Ser Duncan, I should not have teased you in the yard, when you were trying so hard to be gracious. It was only that you blushed so red…was there no girl to tease you, in the village where you grew so tall?” 

—The Sworn Sword

As you can see, Rohanne and Ygritte share a lot of similarities:

Rohanne was red haired, like Ygritte. Dunk and Jon liked their red hair.

Rohanne was small, like Ygritte.

Dunk confused Rohanne with her auburn haired good sister lady Helicent Uffering, like Jon confused Ygritte with a man. Point aside, Lady Helicent having auburn hair and wearing a silver hairnet makes me think of Sansa Stark. Also I have to laugh at the comment about Dunk wanting to bed Lady Helicent... This is too much George.  

It seems that Rohanne was good with bow and arrow, like Ygritte.

Rohanne wasn’t wearing a gown but breeches, like Ygritte.

Rohanne was older, bolder and teased Dunk a lot, like Ygritte was to Jon.

Rohanne openly flirted with Dunk, like Ygritte did with Jon.  

Dunk was sexually attracted to Rohanne, the same way Jon was sexually attracted to Ygritte.

Rohanne and Ygritte weren’t maids, while Dunk and Jon were virgins when they met both women.

Later Dunk will have sex dreams with Rohanne, like Jon’s dreams with Ygritte.

In his dreams, Rohanne shoots arrows at Dunk, like Ygritte did to Jon.    

Lucas Inchfield, almost as tall as Dunk, was jealous of him regarding Rohanne’s attentions. The same way, Orell, a warg like Jon, was jealous of him because he fancied Ygritte.

Later, a mentor figure will suggest Dunk to kill Rohanne, in a similar way that Qhorin Halfhand suggested Jon to kill Ygritte.  Dunk and Jon have the same doubts about killing a woman.

Rohanne share some of the violence impulses and inclinations that Ygritte had. These details also links Rohanne with another women in Jon’s arc like Val, and eventually Daenerys.  More about this later.    

Dunk killed Lucas Inchfield, the same way Jon killed Orell.

The sexual tension between Dunk and Rohanne was instantly, both find each other attractive; in contrast, Jon finds Ygritte unattractive, but only at first...    

The Red Widow looked Dunk over from his heels up to his head though her gaze lingered longest on his chest. “A tree and shooting star. I have never seen those arms before.” She touched his tunic, tracing a limb of his elm tree with two fingers. “And painted, not sewn. The Dornish paint their silks, I’ve heard, but you look too big to be a Dornishman.”

“Not all Dornishmen are small, m’lady.” Dunk could feel her fingers through the silk. Her hand was freckled too. I’ll bet she’s freckled all over. His mouth was oddly dry. “I spent a year in Dorne.”

“Do all the oaks grow so tall there?” she said, as her fingers traced a tree limb round his heart.

“It’s meant to be an elm, m’lady.”

“I shall remember.” She drew her hand back, solemn. “The ward is too hot and dusty for a conversation. Septon, show Ser Duncan to my audience chamber.”

“It would be my great pleasure, good-sister.”

“Our guest will have a thirst. You may send for a flagon of wine as well.”

(...)

“M’lady,” Dunk called after her. “My squire was made to wait by the gates. Might he join us as well?”

“Your squire?” When she smiled, she looked a girl of five-and-ten, not a woman five-and-twenty. A pretty girl full of mischief and laughter. “If it please you, certainly.”

(...)

She smiled a smile that made him wish that she was plainer. 

(...)

She was distracting him, with her snub nose and her freckles.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

Ygritte watched and said nothing. She was older than he'd thought at first, Jon realized; maybe as old as twenty, but short for her age, bandy-legged, with a round face, small hands, and a pug nose. Her shaggy mop of red hair stuck out in all directions.  

—A Clash of Kings - Jon VI

The wildlings seemed to think Ygritte a great beauty because of her hair; red hair was rare among the free folk, and those who had it were said to be kissed by fire, which was supposed to be lucky. Lucky it might be, and red it certainly was, but Ygritte's hair was such a tangle that Jon was tempted to ask her if she only brushed it at the changing of the seasons.

At a lord's court the girl would never have been considered anything but common, he knew. She had a round peasant face, a pug nose, and slightly crooked teeth, and her eyes were too far apart. Jon had noticed all that the first time he'd seen her, when his dirk had been at her throat. Lately, though, he was noticing some other things. When she grinned, the crooked teeth didn't seem to matter. And maybe her eyes were too far apart, but they were a pretty blue-grey color, and lively as any eyes he knew. Sometimes she sang in a low husky voice that stirred him. And sometimes by the cookfire when she sat hugging her knees with the flames waking echoes in her red hair, and looked at him, just smiling . . . well, that stirred some things as well.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon II

A Suitor / A Husband

Despite Dunk being no Lord, there is a lot of talking about him being a suitor of Lady Rohanne.  The same way the freefolk just assumed that Jon stole [married] Ygritte   

Dunk snorted. “She has no need to poison me,” he whispered back. “She thinks I’m some great lout with pease porridge between his ears.”

“As it happens, my good-sister likes pease porridge,” said Septon Sefton, as he reappeared with a flagon of wine, a flagon of water, and three cups. “Yes, yes, I heard. I’m fat, not deaf.” 

(...)

“She does like pease porridge,” the septon said, “and you as well, ser. I know my own good-sister. When I first saw you in the yard, I half hoped you were some suitor, come from King’s Landing to seek my lady’s hand.”

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

And when the Thief was in the Moonmaid, that was a propitious time for a man to steal a woman, Ygritte insisted. "Like the night you stole me. The Thief was bright that night."

"I never meant to steal you," he said. "I never knew you were a girl until my knife was at your throat."

"If you kill a man, and never mean t', he's just as dead," Ygritte said stubbornly.

(...)

"Craster's more your kind than ours. His father was a crow who stole a woman out of Whitetree village, but after he had her he flew back t' his Wall. She went t' Castle Black once t' show the crow his son, but the brothers blew their horns and run her off. Craster's blood is black, and he bears a heavy curse." She ran her fingers lightly across his stomach. "I feared you'd do the same once. Fly back to the Wall. You never knew what t' do after you stole me."

Jon sat up. "Ygritte, I never stole you."

"Aye, you did. You jumped down the mountain and killed Orell, and afore I could get my axe you had a knife at my throat. I thought you'd have me then, or kill me, or maybe both, but you never did. And when I told you the tale o' Bael the Bard and how he plucked the rose o' Winterfell, I thought you'd know to pluck me then for certain, but you didn't. You know nothing, Jon Snow." She gave him a shy smile. "You might be learning some, though."

—A Storm of Swords - Jon III

A Lady’s claim

Rohanne’s claim is coveted by many suitors

“And yet she must wed again, and soon.”

“Must?” said Dunk.

“Her lord father’s will demands it. Lord Wyman wanted grandsons to carry on his line. When he sickened he tried to wed her to the Longinch, so he might die knowing that she had a strong man to protect her, but Rohanne refused to have him. His lordship took his vengeance in his will. If she remains unwed on the second anniversary of her father’s passing, Coldmoat and its lands pass to his cousin Wendell. 

(...) 

Lord Rowan has upheld the will, so her ladyship has only till the next new moon.”

“Why has she waited so long?” Dunk wondered aloud.

The septon shrugged. “If truth be told, there has been a dearth of suitors. My good-sister is not hard to look upon, you will have noticed, and a stout castle and broad lands add to her charms. You would think that younger sons and landless knights would swarm about her ladyship like flies. You would be wrong. The four dead husbands make them wary, and there are those who will say that she is barren too… though never in her hearing unless they yearn to see the inside of a crow cage. She has carried two children to term, a boy and a girl, but neither lived to see a name day. Those few who are not put off by talk of poisonings and sorcery want no part of the Longinch. Lord Wyman charged him on his deathbed to protect his daughter from unworthy suitors, which he has taken to mean all suitors. Any man who means to have her hand would need to face his sword first.” He finished his wine and set the cup aside. “That is not to say there has been no one. Cleyton Caswell and Simon Leygood have been the most persistent, though they seem more interested in her lands than in her person. Were I given to wagering, I should place my gold on Gerold Lannister. He has yet to put in an appearance, but they say he is golden-haired and quick of wit, and more than six feet tall…”

“…and Lady Webber is much taken with his letters.”

(...)

“My first husband perished on the Redgrass Field. My father found me others, but the Stranger took them too. I no longer trust in men, no matter how ample they may seem. I trust in stone and steel and water. I trust in moats, ser, and mine will not go dry.”

(...)

She gave him back the ring. “I cannot return to Coldmoat empty-handed. They will say the Red Widow has lost her bite, that she was too weak to do justice, that she could not protect her smallfolk. You do not understand, ser.”

“I might.” Better than you know. “I remember once some little lord in the stormlands took Ser Arlan into service, to help him fight some other little lord. When I asked the old man what they were fighting over, he said, ‘Nothing, lad. It’s just some pissing contest.’ ”

Lady Rohanne gave him a shocked look but could sustain it no more than half a heartbeat before it turned into a grin. “I have heard a thousand empty courtesies in my time, but you are the first knight who ever said pissing in my presence.” Her freckled face went somber. “Those pissing contests are how lords judge one another’s strength, and woe to any man who shows his weakness. A woman must needs piss twice as hard, if she hopes to rule. And if that woman should happen to be small… Lord Stackhouse covets my Horseshoe Hills, Ser Clifford Conklyn has an old claim to Leafy Lake, those dismal Durwells live by stealing cattle… and beneath mine own roof I have the Longinch. Every day I wake wondering if this might be the day he marries me by force.” Her hand curled tight around her braid, as hard as if it were a rope, and she was dangling over a precipice. “He wants to, I know. He holds back for fear of my wroth, just as Conklyn and Stackhouse and the Durwells tread carefully where the Red Widow is concerned. If any of them thought for a moment that I had turned weak and soft…”

(...)

Ser Lucas Inchfield looked at Lady Rohanne, his face dark with fury. “You will marry me when this mummer’s farce is done. As your lord father wished.”

“My lord father never knew you as I do,” she gave back.”

—The Sworn Sword

And as you can see, Rohanne Webber and Sansa Stark also share a lot of similarities:

Rohanne and Sansa are red haired.

Rohanne and Sansa have a “wicked” reputation. 

Rohanne and Sansa are ladies with a claim to their paternal lands and rights.

Rohanne’s and Sansa’s succession rights has been put in a difficult position in their father’s and older brother’s will, respectively. 

Rohanne and Sansa have a long list of suitors that covet their claims.

Rohanne and Sansa have suffered forced marriages.

Rohanne and Sansa have become disillusioned with men.

Rohanne asked Dunk to swear his sword to her, but he rejected the offer. Brienne, Dunk’s descendant, has already sworn her sword (made of Ice) to Sansa Stark. 

Jaime Lannister, Rohanne’s descendant has also sworn a vow for Sansa Stark: “Sansa Stark is my last chance for honor.” [A Storm of Swords - Jaime IX]

Later, Rohanne married Gerold Lannister and became Lady Lannister of Casterly Rock, she was the mother of Tytos Lannister and grandmother of Tywin Lannister.  Sansa was betrothed with Tywin Lannister’s grandson Joffrey, and later married Tywin Lannister’s son, Tyrion Lannister. Point aside, Stannis Baratheon tried to convince Jon to accept his Winterfell offer, calling Sansa, Lady Lannister.     

Rohanne physically hurt Dunk / Ygritte physically hurt Jon  

Lady Rohanne’s face was stone. “Come closer.”

He did not know what else to do, but to obey. The dais added a good foot to her height, yet even so Dunk towered over her. “Kneel,” she said. He did.

The slap she gave him had all her strength behind it, and she was stronger than she looked. His cheek burned, and he could taste blood in his mouth from a broken lip, but she hadn’t truly hurt him. For a moment all Dunk could think of was grabbing her by that long red braid and pulling her across his lap to slap her arse, as you would a spoiled child. If I do, she’ll scream, though, and twenty knights will come bursting in to kill me.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

He lay on the ground afterward, clutching his prize and bleeding quietly, too weak to move. After a while, he realized that if he did not make himself move he was like to bleed to death. Jon crawled to the shallow stream where the mare was drinking, washed his thigh in the cold water, and bound it tight with a strip of cloth torn from his cloak. He washed the arrow too, turning it in his hands. Was the fletching grey, or white? Ygritte fletched her arrows with pale grey goose feathers. Did she loose a shaft at me as I fled? Jon could not blame her for that. He wondered if she'd been aiming for him or the horse. If the mare had gone down, he would have been doomed. "A lucky thing my leg got in the way," he muttered.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon V

Bastards

"The old High Septon told my father that king's laws are one thing, and the laws of the gods another," the boy said stubbornly. "Trueborn children are made in a marriage bed and blessed by the Father and the Mother, but bastards are born of lust and weakness, he said. King Aegon decreed that his bastards were not bastards, but he could not change their nature. The High Septon said all bastards are born to betrayal . . . Daemon Blackfyre, Bittersteel, even Bloodraven. Lord Rivers was more cunning than the other two, he said, but in the end he would prove himself a traitor, too. The High Septon counseled my father never to put any trust in him, nor in any other bastards, great or small."

Born to betrayal, Dunk thought. Born of lust and weakness. Never to be trusted, great or small. "Egg," he said, "didn't you ever think that I might be a bastard?"

"You, ser?" That took the boy aback. "You are not."

"I might be. I never knew my mother, or what became of her. Maybe I was born too big and killed her. Most like she was some whore or tavern girl. You don't find highborn ladies down in Flea Bottom. And if she ever wed my father . . . well, what became of him, then?" Dunk did not like to be reminded of his life before Ser Arlan found him. "There was a pot shop in King's Landing where I used to sell them rats and cats and pigeons for the brown. The cook always claimed my father was some thief or cutpurse. 'Most like I saw him hanged,' he used to tell me, 'but maybe they just sent him to the Wall.' When I was squiring for Ser Arlan, I would ask him if we couldn't go up that way someday, to take service at Winterfell or some other northern castle. I had this notion that if I could only reach the Wall, might be I'd come on some old man, a real tall man who looked like me. We never went, though. Ser Arlan said there were no hedges in the north, and all the woods were full of wolves." He shook his head. "The long and short of it is, most like you're squiring for a bastard."

For once Egg had nothing to say.

—The Sworn Sword

I’ve never knew my mother?

Maybe I killed my mother at birth?

After reading this passage it’s impossible not to think about Jon Snow. The parallels here don’t need major explanation...

The Ice Dragon

There were stars in the sky as well, more stars than any man could ever hope to count, even if he lived to be as old as King Jaehaerys. Dunk need only lift his eyes to find familiar friends: the Stallion and the Sow, the King’s Crown and the Crone’s Lantern, the Galley, Ghost, and Moonmaid. But there were clouds to the north, and the blue eye of the Ice Dragon was lost to him, the blue eye that pointed north.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

So many stars, he thought as he trudged up the slope through pines and firs and ash. Maester Luwin had taught him his stars as a boy in Winterfell; he had learned the names of the twelve houses of heaven and the rulers of each; he could find the seven wanderers sacred to the Faith; he was old friends with the Ice Dragon, the Shadowcat, the Moonmaid, and the Sword of the Morning. All those he shared with Ygritte, but not some of the others. We look up at the same stars, and see such different things. The King's Crown was the Cradle, to hear her tell it; the Stallion was the Horned Lord; the red wanderer that septons preached was sacred to their Smith up here was called the Thief. 

—A Storm of Swords - Jon III

Thunder rumbled softly in the distance, but above him the clouds were breaking up. Jon searched the sky until he found the Ice Dragon, then turned the mare north for the Wall and Castle Black.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon V

Rohanne was called a whore / Ygritte was called a whore

Osgrey’s eyes grew narrow. “Did that woman offer to take you into service? Are you leaving me for that whore’s bed?”

“I don’t know that she is a whore,” Dunk said, “or a witch or a poisoner or none of that. But whatever she may be makes no matter. We’re leaving for the hedges, not for Coldmoat.”

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

"I suppose it was also the Halfhand who commanded you to fuck this unwashed whore?" Ser Alliser asked with a smirk.

"Ser. She was no whore, ser. The Halfhand told me not to balk, whatever the wildlings asked of me, but . . . I will not deny that I went beyond what I had to do, that I . . . cared for her."

"You admit to being an oathbreaker, then," said Janos Slynt.

Half the men at Castle Black visited Mole's Town from time to time to dig for buried treasures in the brothel, Jon knew, but he would not dishonor Ygritte by equating her with the Mole's Town whores. "I broke my vows with a woman. I admit that. Yes."

—A Storm of Swords - Jon IX

Rohanne Vs Tanselle

Dunk has an internal debate between his platonic and romantic feelings for Tanselle and his sexual desires for Rohanne

And she was there as well, the Red Widow, Rohanne of the Coldmoat. He could see her freckled face, her slender arms, her long red braid. It made him feel guilty. I should be dreaming of Tanselle. Tanselle Too-Tall, they called her, but she was not too tall for me. She had painted arms upon his shield and he had saved her from the Bright Prince, but she vanished even before the trial of seven. She could not bear to see me die, Dunk often told himself, but what did he know? He was as thick as a castle wall. Just thinking of the Red Widow was proof enough of that. Tanselle smiled at me, but we never held each other, never kissed, not even lips to cheek. Rohanne at least had touched him; he had the swollen lip to prove it. Don’t be daft. She’s not for the likes of you. She is too small, too clever, and much too dangerous.”

—The Sworn Sword

This internal debate is somehow similar to Jon Snow, due his bastard status, repressing his deep and true wishes to love and be loved by a highborn lady, and settle himself with his own notion of a warrior woman, or to be more precisely, a woman from a warrior culture, or simply, not a lady.

Sex Dreams

Drowsing at long last, Dunk dreamed. He was running through a glade in the heart of Wat’s Wood, running toward Rohanne, and she was shooting arrows at him. Each shaft she loosed flew true, and pierced him through the chest, yet the pain was strangely sweet. He should have turned and fled, but he ran toward her instead, running slowly as you always did in dreams, as if the very air had turned to honey. Another arrow came, and yet another. Her quiver seemed to have no end of shafts. Her eyes were grey and green and full of mischief. Your gown brings out the color of your eyes, he meant to say to her, but she was not wearing any gown, or any clothes at all. Across her small breasts was a faint spray of freckles, and her nipples were red and hard as little berries. The arrows made him look like some great porcupine as he went stumbling to her feet, but somehow he still found the strength to grab her braid. With one hard yank he pulled her down on top of him and kissed her.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

If I could show her Winterfell . . . give her a flower from the glass gardens, feast her in the Great Hall, and show her the stone kings on their thrones. We could bathe in the hot pools, and love beneath the heart tree while the old gods watched over us.

The dream was sweet . . . but Winterfell would never be his to show. It belonged to his brother, the King in the North. He was a Snow, not a Stark. Bastard, oathbreaker, and turncloak . . .

—A Storm of Swords - Jon V

When the dreams took him, he found himself back home once more, splashing in the hot pools beneath a huge white weirwood that had his father's face. Ygritte was with him, laughing at him, shedding her skins till she was naked as her name day, trying to kiss him, but he couldn't, not with his father watching. 

—A Storm of Swords - Jon VI

Killing a woman 

Dunk faced the possibility to kill Rohanne / Jon faced the possibility to kill Ygritte  

“Ser Duncan, do you remember the story that I told you?”

“I might, ser,” said Dunk. “Which one?”

“The Little Lion.

“I remember. He was the youngest of five sons.”

“Good.” He coughed again. “When he slew Lancel Lannister, the westermen turned back. Without the king there was no war. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Aye,” Dunk said reluctantly. Could I kill a woman? For once Dunk wished he were as thick as that castle wall. It must not come to that. I must not let it come to that.

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sleeper stirring, and knew he must finish his man quick. When the brand swung again, he bulled into it, swinging the bastard sword with both hands. The Valyrian steel sheared through leather, fur, wool, and flesh, but when the wildling fell he twisted, ripping the sword from Jon's grasp. On the ground the sleeper sat up beneath his furs. Jon slid his dirk free, grabbing the man by the hair and jamming the point of the knife up under his chin as he reached for his—no, her—

His hand froze. "A girl."

"A watcher," said Stonesnake. "A wildling. Finish her."

Jon could see fear and fire in her eyes. Blood ran down her white throat from where the point of his dirk had pricked her. One thrust and it's done, he told himself. He was so close he could smell onion on her breath. She is no older than I am. Something about her made him think of Arya, though they looked nothing at all alike. "Will you yield?" he asked, giving the dirk a half turn. And if she doesn't?

"I yield." Her words steamed in the cold air.

"You're our captive, then." He pulled the dirk away from the soft skin of her throat.

—A Clash of Kings - Jon VI

Killing a Royal Child

Rohanne told Dunk about the possibility to kill Egg, despite knowing he was a Targaryen Prince / Val told Jon about the possibility of killing Princess Shireen 

“Lady Rohanne’s fingers closed around it. She glanced at Egg and old Ser Eustace. “You took a great risk in showing me this ring, ser. But how does it avail us? If I should command my men to cross…” “Well,” said Dunk, “that would mean I’d have to fight.” “And die.” “Most like,” he said, “and Egg would go back where he comes from, and tell what happened here.” “Not if he died as well.” “I don’t think you’d kill a boy of ten,” he said, hoping he was right. “Not this boy of ten, you wouldn’t.”

—The Sworn Sword

* * *

Once outside and well away from the queen’s men, Val gave vent to her wroth. “You lied about her beard. That one has more hair on her chin than I have between my legs. And the daughter … her face …”

“Greyscale.”

“The grey death is what we call it.”

“It is not always mortal in children.”

“North of the Wall it is. Hemlock is a sure cure, but a pillow or a blade will work as well. If I had given birth to that poor child, I would have given her the gift of mercy long ago.”

This was a Val that Jon had never seen before. “Princess Shireen is the queen’s only child.”

“I pity both of them. The child is not clean.”

—A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

Another similarity between Rohanne and Val is their braided hair.  Like Rohanne, Val sometimes is described to have “reddish” hair and she also wears it in a long braid.    

The Wall

“Where will you go?” The septon was panting heavily. Even with Dunk on a crutch, he was too fat to match his pace.

“Fair Isle. Harrenhal. The Trident. There are hedges everywhere.” He shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to see the Wall.”

(...)

“Which way is south?” he asked Egg. It was hard to know, when the world was all rain and mud and the sky was grey as a granite wall.

“That’s south, ser.” Egg pointed. “That’s north.”

“Summerhall is south. Your father.”

“The Wall is north.”

Dunk looked at him. “That’s a long way to ride.”

“I have a new horse, ser.”

“So you do.” Dunk had to smile. “And why would you want to see the Wall?”

“Well,” said Egg, “I hear it’s tall.”

—The Sworn Sword

Once again the Wall is mentioned as a place Dunk always wanted to see. Maybe in hope to find his long lost unknown very tall father there, or maybe because he wants his adventure to never ends...  

Fire and Blood

Curiously enough, we can find similarities between Rohanne and certain mother of dragons...

“Osgrey can keep his silver. Only blood can pay for blood.”

(...)

“It is Bennis I want, and Bennis I shall have.”

(...)

“...and she breeds the finest horses in the Reach. We have a dozen mares about to foal.”

(...)

Go, or I will find a sack large enough for you if I have to sew one up myself. Tell Ser Eustace to bring me Bennis of the Brown Shield by the morrow, else I will come for him myself with fire and sword. Do you understand me? Fire and sword!

(...)

She was a blood bay with a bright eye and a long, fiery mane. Lady Rohanne took a carrot from her sleeve and stroked her head as she took it. “The carrot, not the fingers,” she told the horse, before she turned again to Dunk. “I call her Flame, but you may name her as you please. Call her Amends, if you like.”

For a moment he was speechless. He leaned on the crutch and looked at the blood bay with new eyes. She was magnificent. A better mount than any the old man had ever owned. You had only to look at those long, clean limbs to see how swift she’d be.

“I bred her for beauty and for speed.”

—The Sworn Sword

As you can see we can find Targaryen and Dothraki references in Rohanne Webber. Who woulda thought?

Like a certain Mother of Dragons, Rohanne is determined to get what she wants, even if it has to be under threat of “Fire and Sword”.

Like a certain Khaleesi with a horse called “Silver” for the resemblance of her own hair, Rohanne had a horse called “Flame” for the resemblance of her own fiery hair.  There is also the issue with Rohanne’s long braid, like the Khal’s braids that remain untouched until they are defeated.       

Dunk cut Rohanne’s long braid with his dagger tho... 

Something To Remember Me By

Rohanne presented Dunk a fine horse as a farewell gift, but Dunk  rejected the horse and TOOK something else that wasn’t offered... 

He did not see her till the day they took their leave.

(...)

“She was waiting for him inside the stables, standing by the yellow bales of hay in a gown as green as summer. “Ser Duncan,” she said when he came pushing through the door. Her red braid hung down in front, the end of it brushing against her thighs. “It is good to see you on your feet.”

You never saw me on my back, he thought. “M’lady. What brings you to the stables? It’s a wet day for a ride.”

“I might say the same to you.”

“Egg told you?” I owe him another clout in the ear.

“Be glad he did, or I would have sent men after you to drag you back. It was cruel of you to try to steal away without so much as a farewell.”

She had never come to see him while he was in Maester Cerrick’s care, not once. “That green becomes you well, m’lady,” he said. “It brings out the color of your eyes.” He shifted his weight awkwardly on the crutch. “I’m here for my horse.”

“You do not need to go. There is a place for you here, when you’re recovered. Captain of my guards. And Egg can join “my other squires. No one need ever know who he is.”

“Thank you, m’lady, but no.” Thunder was in a stall a dozen places down. Dunk hobbled toward him.

“Please reconsider, ser. These are perilous times, even for dragons and their friends. Stay until you’ve healed.” She walked along beside him. “It would please Lord Eustace too. He is very fond of you.”

“Very fond,” Dunk agreed. “If his daughter wasn’t dead, he’d want me to marry her. Then you could be my lady mother. I never had a mother, much less a lady mother.”

For half a heartbeat Lady Rohanne looked as though she was going to slap him again. Maybe she’ll just kick my crutch away.

“You are angry with me, ser,” she said instead. “You must let me make amends.”

“Well,” he said, “you could help me saddle Thunder.”

“I had something else in mind.” She reached out her hand for his, a freckled hand, her fingers strong and slender. I’ll bet she’s freckled all over. “How well do you know horses?”

“I ride one.”

“An old destrier bred for battle, slow-footed and ill-tempered. Not a horse to ride from place to place.”

“If I need to get from place to place, it’s him or these.” Dunk pointed at his feet.

“You have large feet,” she observed. “Large hands as well. I think you must be large all over. Too large for most palfreys. They’d look like ponies with you perched upon their backs. Still, a swifter mount would serve you well. A big courser, with some Dornish sand steed for endurance.” She pointed to the stall across from Thunder’s. “A horse like her.”

She was a blood bay with a bright eye and a long, fiery mane. Lady Rohanne took a carrot from her sleeve and stroked her head as she took it. “The carrot, not the fingers,” she told the horse, before she turned again to Dunk. “I call her Flame, but you may name her as you please. Call her Amends, if you like.”

For a moment he was speechless. He leaned on the crutch and looked at the blood bay with new eyes. She was magnificent. A better mount than any the old man had ever owned. You had only to look at those long, clean limbs to see how swift she’d be.

“I bred her for beauty and for speed.”

He turned back to Thunder. “I cannot take her.”

“Why not?”

“She is too good a horse for me. Just look at her.”

A flush crept up Rohanne’s face. She clutched her braid, twisting it between her fingers. “I had to marry, you know that. My father’s will…oh, don’t be such a fool.”

“What else should I be? I’m thick as a castle wall and bastard-born as well.”

“Take the horse. I refuse to let you go without something to remember me by.”

“I will remember you, m’lady. Have no fear of that.”

“Take her!”

Dunk grabbed her braid and pulled her face to his. It was awkward with the crutch and the difference in their heights. He almost fell before he got his lips on hers. He kissed her hard. One of her hands went round his neck, and one around his chest. He learned more about kissing in a moment than he had ever known from watching. But when they finally broke apart, he drew his dagger. “I know what I want to remember you by, m’lady.”

Egg was waiting for him at the gatehouse, mounted on a handsome new sorrel palfrey and holding Maester’s lead. When Dunk trotted up to them on Thunder, the boy looked surprised. “She said she wanted to give you a new horse, ser.”

“Even highborn ladies don’t get all they want,” Dunk said, as they rode out across the drawbridge. “It wasn’t a horse I wanted.” The moat was so high it was threatening to overflow its banks. “I took something else to remember her by instead. A lock of that red hair.” He reached under his cloak, brought out the braid, and smiled.

—The Sworn Sword

OMG I have so many things to say about Dunk and Rohanne Farewell... I will make a summary, if not, this would be too long, and this post is already too long...

This passage is full of innuendos:

She reached out her hand for his, a freckled hand, her fingers strong and slender. I’ll bet she’s freckled all over.

“You have large feet,” she observed. “Large hands as well. I think you must be large all over.

¡¡¡SEVEN GODS!!! 

Dunk resented Rohanne for marrying Ser Eustace Osgrey, despite knowing she did it to keep her claim. Despite knowing a marriage between them was impossible.

Dunk called himself a bastard and a fool. Florian the Fool you say?  

Rohanne offered Dunk a Dornish sand steed, telling him it would be a better mount for him. Tanselle was also Dornish. But Dunk rejected the horse anyway.

Dunk kissing Rohanne and then cutting her long braid with his dagger is giving me a lot of Jon killing his aunt vibes... 

But the fact that Dunk rejected Rohanne’s original gift and took what he wanted instead, also gives me heavy non con vibes and I hate it, I really hate it. Cutting a woman’s hair without her consent, is not romantic, less if said braid was something Rohanne was clearly proud of and was always touching it as a way of reassurance. I really don’t get George’s morbid fascination with non con undertones all over his ASOIAF works...    

* * *

THE MYSTERY KNIGHT

This tale is full of dragons, red dragons, black dragons, albino dragons, disguised dragons, hidden dragons, dragon eggs and hatching dragons.    

A New Tree on a Shield

I think this little detail foreshadows Jon’s death...

Dunk had beggar’s blood himself…or so they used to tell him back in Flea Bottom, when they weren’t telling him that he was sure to hang. 

(...)

Dunk unslung his shield and slipped it onto his arm. It was an old thing, tall and heavy, kite-shaped, made of pine and rimmed with iron.

He had bought it in Stoney Sept to replace the one the Longinch had hacked to splinters when they fought. Dunk had not had time to have it painted with his elm and shooting star, so it still bore the arms of its last owner: a hanged man swinging grim and grey beneath a gallows tree. It was not a sigil that he would have chosen for himself, but the shield had come cheap.

(...)

“I am a hedge knight, seeking service.”

“Every robber knight I’ve ever hanged has said the same. Your device may be prophetic, ser…if ser you are. A gallows and a hanged man. These are your arms?”

“No, m’lord. I need to have the shield repainted.”

“Why? Did you rob it off a corpse?”

“I bought it, for good coin.” Three castles, black on orange…where have I seen those before? “I am no robber.”

(...)

“Enter me as the Gallows Knight.” The smallfolk loved it when a mystery knight appeared at a tourney.

Egg fingered his fat lip. “The Gallows Knight, ser?”

“For the shield.”

“Yes, but…

“Go do as I said. You have read enough for one night.” Dunk pinched the candle out between his thumb and forefinger.”

(...)

“My shield,” Dunk said to Egg. The boy handed it up. He slipped his left arm through the strap and closed his hand around the grip. The weight of the kite shield was reassuring though its length made it awkward to handle, and seeing the hanged man once again gave him an uneasy feeling. Those are ill-omened arms. He resolved to get the shield repainted as soon as he could. May the Warrior grant me a smooth course and a quick victory, he prayed, as Butterwell’s herald was clambering up the steps once more. “Ser Uthor Underleaf,” his voice rang out. “The Gallows Knight. Come forth and prove your valor.”

(...)

“Would you rather die with honor intact or live with it besmirched? No, spare me, I know what you will say. Take your boy and flee, gallows knight. Before your arms become your destiny.”

—The Mystery Knight

Dunk’s Elm and Shooting Stark Shield was destroyed so he buys a new one with a hanged man swinging grim and grey beneath a gallows tree.

Hanging is the stablished punishment in the Night’s Watch, that’s why in the first draft of Jon’s Chapter in ADWD, GRRM wrote Jon commanding his men to hang Janos Slynt as punishment for disobedience. 

And in certain way, Dunk will be dead in this tale, but just for a little while. In fact, Dunk is about to die three times during this tale.  

Jon’s death by the hidden daggers is also foreshadowed in the books by Melisandre’s visions and one of Littlefinger’s lessons to Sansa. But there are also prophecies about him coming back to life, and in this tale a dragon’s birth is prophesied.      

Egg revealing his Targaryen identity could also foreshadows Jon knowing the truth about his origins and Targaryen lineage after coming back to life.

A Bastard Prince in Disguise 

Dunk and Egg meet Daemon II Blackfyre in disguise as Ser John the Fiddler     

...a young man lean and lithe, with a comely clean-shaven face and fine features. Black hair fell shining to his collar. His doublet was made of dark blue silk edged in gold satin. Across his chest an engrailed cross had been embroidered in gold thread, with a golden fiddle in the first and third quarters, a golden sword in the second and the fourth. His eyes caught the deep blue of his doublet and sparkled with amusement.

(...) 

“I am a vagabond hedge knight like yourself. Ser John the Fiddler, I am called.”

That was the sort of name a hedge knight might choose, but Dunk had never seen any hedge knight garbed or armed or mounted in such splendor. The knight of the golden hedge, he thought. “You know my name. My squire is called Egg.”

—The Mystery Knight

Wait!

A bastard dragon in disguise? 

With dark hair?

Called John?

Also the Fiddler?

Fiddles and Swords as his sigil? 

Like a musician and a warrior? Somet like Florian the Fool? Someone like Rhaegar?

Ser John the Fiddler could also work as foreshadowing for Young Griff, the alleged Aegon VI Targaryen, Jon’s half-brother. 

Like Young Griff dying his silver/golden hair blue, Daemon Blackfyre has silver/golden hair dyed black.

Like Young Griff having Jon Connington, a man in love with Rhaeger, by his side, Daemon Blackfyre has Alyn Cockshaw, a man in love with him, by his side.       

Gormon Pyke

Dunk meets the man that killed Roger of Pennytree 

Three castles, black on orange. “I remember now. Ser Arlan never liked to talk about the Redgrass Field, but once in his cups he told me how his sister’s son had died.” He could almost hear the old man’s voice again, smell the wine upon his breath. “Roger of Pennytree, that was his name. His head was smashed in by a mace wielded by a lord with three castles on his shield.” Lord Gormon Peake. The old man never knew his name. Or never wanted to. 

—The Mystery Knight

Roger of Pennytree was Ser Arlan’s squire, he died at the Redgrass Field, that’s why Ser Arlan needed a new squire and took Dunk under his tutelage.  

This encounter somehow reminds me of Jon meeting Donald Noye, the man that forged Robert Baratheon’s warhammer, the weapon that killed Rhaegar, Jon’s biological father. 

Dunk and Egg meet three very interesting hedge knights... in a weirwood grove 

Before long the trees opened up, and they found themselves in what must once have been a weirwood grove. Only a ring of white stumps and a tangle of bone-pale roots remained to show where the trees had stood, when the children of the forest ruled in Westeros.

(...)

“I am Ser Kyle, the Cat of Misty Moor. Under yonder chestnut sits Ser Glendon, ah, Ball. And here you have the good Ser Maynard Plumm.”

Egg’s ears pricked up at that name. “Plumm…are you kin to Lord Viserys Plumm, ser?”

“Distantly,” confessed Ser Maynard, a tall, thin, stoop-shouldered man with long, straight, flaxen hair, “though I doubt that his lordship would admit to it. One might say that he is of the sweet Plumms, whilst I am of the sour.” Plumm’s cloak was as purple as his name, though frayed about the edges and badly dyed. A moonstone brooch big as a hen’s egg fastened it at the shoulder. Elsewise he wore dun-colored roughspun and stained brown leather.

—The Mystery Knight

So many things to say about these three hedge knights.

First, Egg mentioned Lord Viserys Plumm because he was a Targaryen, son of Princess Elaena Targaryen.

Second,  these three knights reminds me a lot of another trio of interesting hedge knights that we met in one of Alayne Stone’s chapters in AFFC:

Alayne laughed. "Are you louts?" she said, teasing. "Why, I took the three of you for gallant knights."

"Knights they are," said Petyr. "Their gallantry has yet to be demonstrated, but we may hope. Allow me to present Ser Byron, Ser Morgarth, and Ser Shadrich. Sers, the Lady Alayne, my natural and very clever daughter . . . with whom I must needs confer, if you will be so good as to excuse us."

The three knights bowed and withdrew, though the tall one with the blond hair kissed her hand before taking his leave.

—A Feast for Crows - Alayne II

So we have these hedge knights in Dunk and Egg tales:

Ser Kyle, the Cat of Misty Moor, ginger whiskers.

Ser Glendon Ball (Glendon Flowers/the Knight of the Pussywillows), dark brown hair, bulbous nose.

Ser Maynard Plumm, flaxen hair.

And we have these hedge knights in ASOIAF:

Ser Byron the Beautiful, blonde hair. 

Ser Morgarth the Merry, salt-and-pepper beard, a red, bulbous nose. 

Shadrich of the Shady Glen also known as the Mad Mouse, orange hair.

Then we can associate them this way:

Ser Kyle, the Cat of Misty Moor / Ser Shadrich the Mad Mouse of Shady Glen, both with similar names and red hair.

Ser Glendon Ball / Ser Morgarth the Merry, both with bulbous noses.

Ser Maynard Plumm / Ser Byron the Beautiful, both blondes and... under disguise?

Third, and this is a widely known theory, I’m convinced that Ser Maynard Plumm is Brynden Rivers aka Bloodraven in disguise, thanks to a glamor with the moonstone brooch big as a hen’s egg. That moonstone is working like Melissadre’s ruby at the wrist of Mance Ryder disguised as Rattleshirt (*). 

(*) Here I have to mention the existence of two theories about Ser Byron the Beautiful. The first one says that Ser Byron the Beautiful is the Hound in disguise under glamor thanks to Rhaegar rubies. Yes this is an actual theory. The second theory is an addition to the first one, it says that Ser Byron the Beautiful is the Hound in disguise, using the face of Tyrek Lannister, under glamor thanks to Rhaegar rubies. Yes this is an actual theory as well. 

Is Ser Byron someone else in disguise? I have no idea if the parallels will be 100% accurate and we will only know when the Winds of Winter come. 

Dragon Eggs

The protagonists of this tale are eggs, a dragon egg and a dragon called Egg

“The dragon’s egg? Is that the champion’s prize? Truly?” The last dragon had perished half a century ago. Ser Arlan had once seen a clutch of her eggs, though. They were hard as stone, but beautiful to look upon, the old man had told Dunk. “How could Lord Butterwell come by a dragon’s egg?”

“King Aegon presented the egg to his father’s father after guesting for a night at his old castle,” said Ser Maynard Plumm.

“Was it a reward for some act of valor?” asked Dunk.

Ser Kyle chuckled. “Some might call it that. Supposedly old Lord Butterwell had three young maiden daughters when His Grace came calling. By morning, all three had royal bastards in their little bellies. A hot night’s work, that was.”

(...)

“Lord Butterwell will have the egg well guarded, I’m sure.” Dunk scratched the midge bites on his neck. “Do you think he might display it at the feast? I’d like to get a look at one.”

“I’d show you mine, ser, but it’s at Summerhall.”

“Yours? Your dragon’s egg?” Dunk frowned down at the boy, wondering if this was some jape. “Where did it come from?”

“From a dragon, ser. They put it in my cradle.”

“Do you want a clout in the ear? There are no dragons.”

“No, but there are eggs. The last dragon left a clutch of five, and they have more on Dragonstone, old ones from before the Dance. My brothers all have them too. Aerion’s looks as though it’s made of gold and silver, with veins of fire running through it. Mine is white and green, all swirly.”

“Your dragon’s egg.” They put it in his cradle. Dunk was so used to Egg that sometimes he forgot Aegon was a prince. Of course they’d put a dragon egg inside his cradle. “Well, see that you don’t go mentioning this egg where anyone is like to hear.”

“I’m not stupid, ser.” Egg lowered his voice. “Someday the dragons will return. My brother Daeron’s dreamed of it, and King Aerys read it in a prophecy. Maybe it will be my egg that hatches. That would be splendid.”

“Would it?” Dunk had his doubts.”

Not Egg. “Aemon and I used to pretend that our eggs would be the ones to hatch. If they did, we could fly through the sky on dragonback, like the first Aegon and his sisters.”

“Aye, and if all the other knights in the realm should die, I’d be the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. If these eggs are so bloody precious, why is Lord Butterwell giving his away?”

(...)

“Are we going to go to Whitewalls, ser?”

“Why not? I want to see this dragon’s egg.” Dunk smiled. “If I win the tourney, we’d both have dragon’s eggs.”

Egg gave him a doubtful look.

“What? Why are you looking at me that way?”

“I could tell you, ser,” the boy said solemnly, “but I need to learn to hold my tongue.”

—The Mystery Knight

If Dunk and Valarr represented Jon in the first tale, in this one, Jon is represented by Dunk and Glendon as bastards, Daemon as bastard/prince in disguise and our little Egg as a dragon coming to life / revealing his Targaryen identity.

Indeed, Egg will be the dragon egg that hatches in this tale, and later he will be King and Dunk will be his Kingsguard’s Lord Commander one day. 

And the sad note is that both, Dunk and Egg, will died years later while trying to hatch dragon eggs. Be careful what you wish for...

Winterfell

Dunk frowned. “Egg and I have a long journey before us. We’re headed north to Winterfell. Lord Beron Stark is gathering swords to drive the krakens from his shores for good.”

—The Mystery Knight

Dun and Egg will be at Winterfell during the fourth tale, The She-Wolves of Winterfell, a tale that is supposed to explore House Stark Succession issues...

At some point, Dunk asked Ser Glendon Ball, another bastard, that joined them in their journey to Winterfell, an offer to start a new life in a land when they will be judge by their own worth and not by their social status and low origins.   

Florian the Fool imagery

“The wine had colored Ser Glendon’s cheeks and inflamed his pimples. “Who are you, to make such boasts?”

“They call me John the Fiddler.”

“Are you a musician or a warrior?”

“I can make sweet song with either lance or resined bow, as it happens. Every wedding needs a singer, and every tourney needs a mystery knight.”

—The Mystery Knight

As I mentioned before, John the Fiddler sounds like some version of Florian the Fool, a musician and a knight/warrior.  Ser Glendon Ball pointed out this detail.

Jon is surrounded by Florian the Fool imagery. From “You know nothing, Jon Snow” to all the singers linked with him like his biological father Rhaegar Targaryen, Mance Ryder and Bael the Bard.

Having a Thirst during a Feast

Both Dunk and Jon get hammered and think about girls...

Dunk remembers Tanselle and Rohanne and Jon thinks about insipid and stupid and blonde Princess Myrcella and his radiant half-sister Sansa... 

Dunk had not intended to drink so much, with the jousting on the morrow, but the cups were filled anew after every toast, and he found he had a thirst. “Never refuse a cup of wine or a horn of ale,” Ser Arlan had once told him, “it may be a year before you see another.” It would have been discourteous not to toast the bride and groom, he told himself, and dangerous not to drink to the king and his Hand, with strangers all about.

(...)

The other hedge knights, fine fellows all, had begun to talk of women they had known. Dunk found himself wondering where Tanselle was tonight. He knew where Lady Rohanne was—abed at Coldmoat Castle, with old Ser Eustace beside her, snoring through his mustache—so he tried not to think of her. Do they ever think of me? he wondered.

(...)

He had another cup of hippocras, since the first had tasted good. Then he lay his head down atop his folded arms and closed his eyes just for a moment, to rest them from the smoke.When he opened them again, half the wedding guests were on their feet and shouting, “Bed them! Bed them!” They were making such an uproar that they woke Dunk from a pleasant dream involving Tanselle Too-Tall and the Red Widow. “Bed them! Bed them!” the calls rang out. Dunk sat up and rubbed his eyes.

—The Mystery Knight

* * *

It was the fourth hour of the welcoming feast laid for the king. Jon's brothers and sisters had been seated with the royal children, beneath the raised platform where Lord and Lady Stark hosted the king and queen. In honor of the occasion, his lord father would doubtless permit each child a glass of wine, but no more than that. Down here on the benches, there was no one to stop Jon drinking as much as he had a thirst for.

And he was finding that he had a man's thirst, to the raucous delight of the youths around him, who urged him on every time he drained a glass. They were fine company, and Jon relished the stories they were telling, tales of battle and bedding and the hunt. He was certain that his companions were more entertaining than the king’s offspring.

(...)

After them came the children. Little Rickon first, managing the long walk with all the dignity a three-year-old could muster. Jon had to urge him on when he stopped to visit. Close behind came Robb, in grey wool trimmed with white, the Stark colors. He had the Princess Myrcella on his arm. She was a wisp of a girl, not quite eight, her hair a cascade of golden curls under a jeweled net. Jon noticed the shy looks she gave Robb as they passed between the tables and the timid way she smiled at him. He decided she was insipid. Robb didn't even have the sense to realize how stupid she was; he was grinning like a fool.

His half sisters escorted the royal princes. Arya was paired with plump young Tommen, whose white-blond hair was longer than hers. Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon's vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister's hair and his mother's deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey's pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell's Great Hall.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I 

A Bedding

Before Dunk quite realized what was happening, John the Fiddler had dragged him to his feet. “Here!” he cried out. “Let the giant carry her!”

The next thing he knew he was climbing a tower stair with the bride squirming in his arms.

(...)

Dunk had no notion where Lord Butterwell’s bedchamber was to be found, but the other men pushed and prodded him until he got there, by which time the bride was red-faced, giggling, and nearly naked, save for the stocking on her left leg, which had somehow survived the climb. Dunk was crimson too, and not from exertion.

His arousal would have been obvious if anyone had been looking, but fortunately all eyes were on the bride. Lady Butterwell looked nothing like Tanselle, but having the one squirming half-naked in his arms had started Dunk thinking about the other. Tanselle Too-Tall, that was her name, but she was not too tall for me. He wondered if he would ever find her again. There had been some nights when he thought he must have dreamed her. No, lunk, you only dreamed she liked you.

(...)

When Dunk finally plopped the bride onto her marriage bed, a dwarf leapt in beside her and seized one of her breasts for a bit of a fondle. The girl let out a squeal, the men roared with laughter, and Dunk seized the dwarf by his collar and hauled him kicking off m’lady. He was carrying the little man across the room to chuck him out the door when he saw the dragon’s egg.

(...)

Dunk dropped the dwarf and picked up the egg, just to feel it for a moment. It was heavier than he’d expected. You could smash a man’s head with this, and never crack the shell. The scales were smooth beneath his fingers, and the deep, rich red seemed to shimmer as he turned the egg in his hands. Blood and flame, he thought, but there were gold flecks in it as well, and whorls of midnight black.

—The Mystery Knight

A dwarf fondling the breast of a lady during her wedding night reminds me of Tyrion groping his child bride Sansa during their wedding night.  So I would really like that one day someone seized Tyrion by his collar and hauled him liked Dunk did with that dwarf as punishment for his unwanted advances with Sansa.   

Another Prophetic Dream 

In Ashford, Dunk was involved in a prophetic dream with a dead dragon. In Whitewalls, Dunk was involved in a prophetic dream with a hatching dragon

He was feeling dizzy from the wine, so he leaned against a parapet. Am I going to be sick? Why did he go and touch the dragon’s egg? He remembered Tanselle’s puppet show, and the wooden dragon that had started all the trouble there at Ashford. The memory made Dunk feel guilty, as it always did. Three good men dead, to save a hedge knight’s foot. It made no sense, and never had. Take a lesson from that, lunk. It is not for the likes of you to mess about with dragons or their eggs.

“It almost looks as if it’s made of snow.”

Dunk turned. John the Fiddler stood behind him, smiling in his silk and cloth-of-gold. “What’s made of snow?”

“The castle. All that white stone in the moonlight. Have you ever been north of the Neck, Ser Duncan? I’m told it snows there even in the summer. Have you ever seen the Wall?”

“No, m’lord.” Why he is going on about the Wall? “That’s where we were going, Egg and me. Up north, to Winterfell.”

(...)

He gave Dunk an enigmatic smile. “I dreamed of you, Ser Duncan. Before I even met you. When I saw you on the road, I knew your face at once. It was as if we were old friends.”

Dunk had the strangest feeling then, as if he had lived this all before. I dreamed of you, he said. My dreams are not like yours, Ser Duncan. Mine are true. “You dreamed of me?” he said, in a voice made thick by wine. “What sort of dream?”

“Why,” the Fiddler said, “I dreamed that you were all in white from head to heel, with a long pale cloak flowing from those broad shoulders. You were a White Sword, ser, a Sworn Brother of the Kingsguard, the greatest knight in all the Seven Kingdoms, and you lived for no other purpose but to guard and serve and please your king”. He put a hand on Dunk’s shoulder. “You have dreamed the same dream, I know you have.”

He had, it was true. The first time the old man let me hold his sword. “Every boy dreams of serving in the Kingsguard.”

“Only seven boys grow up to wear the white cloak, though. Would it please you to be one of them?”

“Me?” Dunk shrugged away the lordling’s hand, which had begun to knead his shoulder. “It might. Or not.” The knights of the Kingsguard served for life and swore to take no wife and hold no lands. I might find Tanselle again someday. Why shouldn’t I have a wife, and sons? “It makes no matter what I dream. Only a king can make a Kingsguard knight.”

“I suppose that means I’ll have to take the throne, then. I would much rather be teaching you to fiddle.”

(...)

“I hope you will put more faith in what I tell you when you see the dragon hatch.”

“A dragon will hatch? A living dragon? What, here?”

“I dreamed it. This pale white castle, you, a dragon bursting from an egg, I dreamed it all, just as I once dreamed of my brothers lying dead. They were twelve and I was only seven, so they laughed at me, and died. I am two-and-twenty now, and I trust my dreams.”

“Dunk was remembering another tourney, remembering how he had walked through the soft spring rains with another princeling. I dreamed of you and a dead dragon, Egg’s brother Daeron said to him. A great beast, huge, with wings so large they could cover this meadow. It had fallen on top of you, but you were alive and the dragon was dead. And so he was, poor Baelor. Dreams were a treacherous ground on which to build. “As you say, m’lord,” he told the Fiddler. “Pray excuse me.”

“Where are you going, ser?”

“To my bed, to sleep. I’m drunk as a dog.”

“Be my dog, ser. The night’s alive with promise. We can howl together and wake the very gods.”

“What do you want of me?”

“Your sword. I would make you mine own man, and raise you high. My dreams do not lie, Ser Duncan. You shall have that white cloak, and I must have the dragon’s egg. I must, my dreams have made that plain. Perhaps the egg will hatch, or else…”

—The Mystery Knight

Daemon’s dream was proven right since Egg hatched there in Whitewalls and years later Dunk became Lord Commander of Aegon V Targaryen’s Kingsguard.

But what if the dragon hatching in a castle made of snow was a dream for the long future as well as Dunk wearing the white cloak many years later?

That part of the dream could be foreshadowing Jon’ resurrection in a castle made of snow. That castle made of snow could be Winterfell? Maybe, but it also could be the Wall, since Daemon himself mentioned the Wall in this passage, the castle there is called Castle Black but it is certainly covered by snow. 

This could also be foreshadowing of Jon’s true parentage revelation, as a Targaryen; and that could happen in Winterfell, that is a grey castle certainly, but also covered by snow.  

Also, the white cloaks of the Kingsguards are often compared with snow and called snowy white. 

I also read some theories about New Castle in White Harbor as the castle made of snow of Daemon’s dream. 

Better with a Sword

Dunk watched a server fill his wine cup. “I am better with a sword than with a lance,” he admitted, “and even better with a battle-axe. Will there be a melee here?”

(...)

“You're better with a sword than with a lance,” Egg said. “With an axe or a mace, there's few to match your strength.”

(...)

“Ser Tommard, this man is the prince’s sworn shield. He’ll kill you!”

“Only if he falls on me.” Black Tom showed his teeth in a hard grin. “I saw him try to joust.”

“I am better with a sword,” Dunk warned him.

(...)

“Black Tom reeled back a step and stared down in horror at his forearm flopping on the floor beneath the Stranger’s altar. “You,” he gasped, “you, you…”

“I told you.” Dunk stabbed him through the throat. “I’m better with a sword.”

—The Mystery Knight

* * *

Jon swelled with pride. “Robb is a stronger lance than I am, but I'm the better sword, and Hullen says I sit a horse as well as anyone in the castle.”

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

Warg imagery once again...

A trumpet sounded.

Thunder started forward at a slow trot. Dunk swung his lance to the left and brought it down, so it angled across the horse's head and the wooden barrier between him and his foe. His shield protected the left side of his body. He crouched forward, legs tightening as Thunder drove down the lists. We are one. Man, horse, lance, we are one beast of blood and wood and iron.

—The Mystery Knight

This is a very interesting passage because Dunk lost that joust and he kind of died for a while (he got unconscious for hours). Dunk fell to the ground after his opponent lance struck him on the head. Later that said opponent, that was drinking with Dunk the night before during the feast, confessed to Dunk that he was paid for killing him.

This is very similar to Jon being killed by his own brothers at the Wall, being alive for a while inside of his direwolf Ghost, and his future resurrection.    

Coming back to life

Dunk woke upon his back, staring up at the arches of a barrel-vaulted ceiling. For a moment he did not know where he was, or how he had arrived there. Voices echoed in his head, and faces drifted past him; old Ser Arlan, Tanselle Too-Tall, Bennis of the Brown Shield, the Red Widow, Baelor Breakspear, Aerion the Bright Prince, mad, sad Lady Vaith. Then all at once the joust came back to him: the heat, the snail, the iron fist coming at his face. He groaned, and rolled onto one elbow. The movement set his skull to pounding like some monstrous war drum.

(...)

“Tell me. What’s happened?”

“The same foolishness that always happens in these affrays. Men have been knocking each other off horses with sticks. Lord Smallwood’s nephew broke his wrist and Ser Eden Risley’s leg was crushed beneath his horse, but no one has been killed thus far. Though I had my fears for you, ser.”

(...)

“How long have you been tending me?” Dunk flexed the fingers of his sword hand. All of them still seemed to work. Only my head’s hurt, and Ser Arlan used to say I never used that anyway.

“Four hours, by the sundial.”

Four hours was not so bad. He had once heard tell of a knight struck so hard that he slept for forty years and woke to find himself old and withered. ”

(...)

“A passing groom told him where to find the nearest well. It was there that he discovered Kyle the Cat, talking quietly with Maynard Plumm. Ser Kyle’s shoulders were slumped in dejection, but he looked up at Dunk’s approach. “Ser Duncan? We had heard that you were dead, or dying.”

Dunk rubbed his temples. “I only wish I were.”

—The Mystery Knight

"Four hours was not so bad.” Dunk was four hours unconscious after his murder attempt. Maybe Jon will be dead for four days and it won’t be “so bad”, he won’t lost much of his memories.     

Honor

Better a beggar than a thief. He had been both in Flea Bottom, when he ran with Ferret, Rafe, and Pudding, but the old man had saved him from that life. He knew what Ser Arlan of Pennytree would have said to Plumm’s suggestions. Ser Arlan being dead, Dunk said it for him. “Even a hedge knight has his honor.”

“Would you rather die with honor intact or live with it besmirched? No, spare me, I know what you will say. Take your boy and flee, gallows knight. Before your arms become your destiny.”

—The Mystery Knight

* * *

"A bastard can have honor too," Jon said. "I am ready to swear your oath."

—A Game of Thrones - Jon I

I will kill him if I must. The prospect gave Jon no joy; there would be no honor in such a killing, and it would mean his own death as well. Yet he could not let the wildlings breach the Wall, to threaten Winterfell and the north, the barrowlands and the Rills, White Harbor and the Stony Shore, even the Neck. For eight thousand years the men of House Stark had lived and died to protect their people against such ravagers and reavers . . . and bastard-born or no, the same blood ran in his veins. Bran and Rickon are still at Winterfell besides. Maester Luwin, Ser Rodrik, Old Nan, Farlen the kennelmaster, Mikken at his forge and Gage by his ovens . . . everyone I ever knew, everyone I ever loved. If Jon must slay a man he half admired and almost liked to save them from the mercies of Rattleshirt and Harma Dogshead and the earless Magnar of Thenn, that was what he meant to do.

—A Storm of Swords - Jon II

Even if she was a whore... I want to know

"His Lordship said that I had no right to put a fireball upon my shield. He told me my device should be a clump of pussywillows. His Lordship can go bugger himself." Dunk could not help but smile. He had supped at that same table himself, choking down the same bitter dishes as served up by the likes of the Bright Prince and Ser Steffon Fossoway. He felt a certain kinship with the prickly young knight. For all I know, my mother was a whore as well. "How many horses have you won?"

—The Mystery Knight

* * *

"One of the guards overheard Clydas reading the letter to Maester Aemon." Pyp leaned close. "Jon, I'm sorry. He was your father's friend, wasn't he?"

"They were as close as brothers, once." Jon wondered if Joffrey would keep his father as the King's Hand. It did not seem likely. That might mean Lord Eddard would return to Winterfell, and his sisters as well. He might even be allowed to visit them, with Lord Mormont's permission. It would be good to see Arya's grin again and to talk with his father. I will ask him about my mother, he resolved. I am a man now, it is past time he told me. Even if she was a whore, I don't care, I want to know.

—A Game of Thrones - Jon VII

True Identities and Targaryen Names

Inside, the Fiddler turned back to Dunk. “I knew Ser Uthor had not killed you. My dreams are never wrong. And the Snail must face me soon enough. Once I’ve unhorsed him, I shall demand your arms and armor back. Your destrier as well, though you deserve a better mount. Will you take one as my gift?”

“I…no…I couldn’t do that.” The thought made Dunk uncomfortable. “I do not mean to be ungrateful, but…”

“If it is the debt that troubles you, put the thought from your mind. I do not need your silver, ser. Only your friendship. ”

(...)

“You are no hedge knight.”

“No.” The Fiddler’s smile was full of boyish charm. “But you knew that from the start. You have been calling me m’lord since we met upon the road, why is that?”

“The way you talk. The way you look. The way you act.” Dunk the lunk, thick as a castle wall. “Up on the roof last night, you said some things…”

“Wine makes me talk too much, but I meant every word. We belong together, you and I. My dreams do not lie.”

“Your dreams don’t lie,” said Dunk, “but you do. John is not your true name, is it?”

“No.” The Fiddler’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

He has Egg’s eyes.

“His true name will be revealed soon enough, to those who need to know.” Lord Gormon Peake had slipped into the pavilion, scowling. “Hedge knight, I warn you—”

“Oh, stop it, Gormy,” said the Fiddler. “Ser Duncan is with us, or will be soon. I told you, I dreamed of him.”

(...)

“I never did you any harm.”

“And never will. Daemon’s mine. I will command his Kingsguard. You are not worthy of a white cloak.”

“I never claimed I was.” Daemon. The name rang in Dunk’s head. Not John. Daemon, after his father.

—The Mystery Knight

These passages give me hope about Aemon being Jon’s Targaryen name: 

Daemon. The name rang in Dunk’s head. Not John. Daemon, after his father.

Aemon. The name rang in Dunk’s (?) head. Not Jon. Aemon, after his father uncle.

Who will discover Jon’s true parentage and Jon’s Targaryen name? My bet is on Sansa since she unbeknownst helped Ned to discover that “Prince” Joffrey were a bastard. So it would be a full circle if she discovers by herself that the bastard Jon Snow is a true prince.

The Redhead Lady of the Tale

Mad Danelle Lothston herself rode forth in strength from her haunted towers at Harrenhal, clad in black armor that fit her like an iron glove, her long red hair streaming.

—The Mystery Knight

There is always a redhead woman with a wicked reputation. In the first tale a red haired whore is mentioned; in the second tale Rohanne Webber is a protagonist; and in this third tale Mad Danelle Lothston makes a triumphant entrance riding all armored next to Bloodraven to put an end to the Second Blackfyre Rebellion. Such a powerful image...   

An Elm Tree again!

The Hand’s pavilion was half a mile from the castle, in the shade of a spreading elm tree. A dozen cows were cropping at the grass nearby. Kings rise and fall, Dunk thought, and cows and smallfolk go about their business. It was something the old man used to say.”

—The Mystery Knight

Bloodraven put his pavilion in the shade of a spreading elm tree. This is a reminiscence of the first tale:

On the outskirts of the great meadow, a good half mile from town and castle, he found a place where a bend in a brook had formed a deep pool. Reeds grew thick along its edge, and a tall, leafy elm presided over all. The spring grass there was as green as any knight’s banner and soft to the touch. It was a pretty spot, and no one had yet laid claim to it. This will be my pavilion, Dunk told himself, a pavilion roofed with leaves, greener even than the banners of the Tyrells and the Estermonts.

(...)

“There’s my pavilion.” Dunk swept a hand above his head, at the branches of the tall elm that loomed above them.

“That’s a tree,” the boy said, unimpressed.

“It’s all the pavilion a true knight needs. I would sooner sleep under the stars than in some smoky tent.”

—The Hedge Knight

Dunk took that elm tree as his sigil the same way Lyanna took a weirwood as his sigil as a Mystery Knight.

Dunk also took a shooting star as part of his sigil and when Jon’s was born, there was a shooting star symbol around him, Ser Arthur Dayne’s sword, Dawn, made of a falling star, and House Dayne’s sigil is also “a white sword and falling star crossed on lilac”.

So Dunks sigil is really telling us about Jon Snow’s birth story, about the identity of his mother and the place when he was born, that was named by his biological father and was guarded by a knight with a sword made of a falling star.   

Roger of Pennytree 

Flanking the entrance, the severed heads of Gormon Peake and Black Tom Heddle had been impaled on spears, with their shields displayed beneath them. Three castles, black on orange. The man who slew Roger of Pennytree.

Even in death, Lord Gormon’s eyes were hard and flinty. Dunk closed them with his fingers. “What did you do that for?” asked one of the guardsmen. “The crows’ll have them soon enough.”

“I owed him that much.” If Roger had not died that day, the old man would never have looked twice at Dunk when he saw him chasing that pig through the alleys of King’s Landing. Some old dead king gave a sword to one son instead of another, that was the start of it. And now I’m standing here, and poor Roger’s in his grave.”

—The Mystery Knight

This is a very sad scene where we can see how Dunk still feels guilty for all the men that had to die for him to live the life he is living. Jon shares the same guilt along his arc and is heartbreaking.   

Tower of Joy imagery

Bloodraven ordered Whitewalls to be pulled down stone by stone, the same way Ned Stark pulled down the Tower of Joy

“And Whitewalls?” asked Butterwell, with quavering voice.

“Forfeit to the Iron Throne. I mean to pull it down stone by stone and sow the ground that it stands upon with salt. In twenty years, no one will remember it existed. Old fools and young malcontents still make pilgrimages to the Redgrass Field to plant flowers on the spot where Daemon Blackfyre fell. I will not suffer Whitewalls to become another monument to the Black Dragon."

—The Mystery Knight

* * *

“It would have to be his grandfather, for Jory’s father was buried far to the south. Martyn Cassel had perished with the rest. Ned had pulled the tower down afterward, and used its bloody stones to build eight cairns upon the ridge. It was said that Rhaegar had named that place the tower of joy, but for Ned it was a bitter memory. They had been seven against three, yet only two had lived to ride away; Eddard Stark himself and the little crannogman, Howland Reed. He did not think it omened well that he should dream that dream again after so many years.”

—A Game of Thrones - Eddard X

As you can see, Whitewalls, the castle where Egg “hatched” and revealed his true identity as Aegon Targaryen, is ordered by Bloodraven to be pulled down stone by stone. And after reading this it’s impossible not to think about the Tower of Joy, the place where Jon was born, being pulled down by Ned Stark. 

A Dragon Rises

“We had some help, m’lord,” Dunk added.

“Hedge knights.”

“Aye, m’lord. Ser Kyle the Cat, and Maynard Plumm. And Ser Glendon Ball. It was him unhorsed the Fidd…the pretender.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that tale from half a hundred lips already. The Bastard of the Pussywillows. Born of a whore and a traitor.”

“Born of heroes,” Egg insisted. “If he’s amongst the captives, I want him found and released. And rewarded.”

“And who are you to tell the King’s Hand what to do?”

Egg did not flinch. “You know who I am, cousin.”

“Your squire is insolent, ser,” Lord Rivers said to Dunk. “You ought to beat that out of him.”

“I’ve tried, m’lord. He’s a prince, though.”

���What he is,” said Bloodraven, “is a dragon. Rise, ser.”

Dunk rose.

“There have always been Targaryens who dreamed of things to come, since long before the Conquest,” Bloodraven said, “so we should not be surprised if from time to time a Blackfyre displays the gift as well. Daemon dreamed that a dragon would be born at Whitewalls, and it was. The fool just got the color wrong.”

Dunk looked at Egg. The ring, he saw. His father’s ring. It’s on his finger, not stuffed up inside his boot.

(...)

“My place is with Ser Duncan. I’m his squire.”

“Seven save you both. As you wish. You’re free to go.”

“We will,” said Egg, “but first we need some gold. Ser Duncan needs to pay the Snail his ransom.”

Bloodraven laughed. “What happened to the modest boy I once met at King’s Landing? As you say, my prince. I will instruct my paymaster to give you as much gold as you wish. Within reason.”

—The Mystery Knight

And finally, the dragon egg that actually hatched in Whitewalls was Egg, a Targaryen Prince in disguise that revealed his true identity as Aegon Targaryen, a future king, that will also died while trying to hatch dragon eggs, next to Dunk at Summerhall, the place when another human dragon hatched, Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon’s biological father.

GRRM really likes his full circles... 

This has been a long ride. I hope you enjoy it.

THE END.

[mountain-ash-and-rusted-iron]

this is an oc masterpost of all my haf-formed ocs languishing on pinterest with their messy aesthetics and unedited blurbs, in roughly chronological order of their creation, plus sorted by fandom. this post is only asoiaf, harry potter, hunger games, and riverdale, cos i have tooooooo many original characters otherwise and the post was getting incredibly long. (note that i love my ocs but these one’s are not polished or even the final versions of their characters, i just wanted to post them lol)

under a read more, if you’re on mobile start scrolling i guess, sorry,,,

Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire:

Laeya Targeryen: (child of Rhaella and Aerys Targaryen, born 280 AC - three years older than Danaerys) 

Fearful of her impending marriage, Laeya is eleven when she takes her younger sister and flees across the sea to Dorne, hiding herself and Dany with dyed hair and badly controlled magic. As Leia and Dani Sand they learn to live normally. At 15 Leia joins the Royal Guard and secures Dany work as a tailor's apprentice. When she is 17, an assassin tries to kill her in front of the Dornish court and everything changes...

- so laeya straight up has magic, which im considering an extension of the dragon thing dany has - she can control flame and for the disguise uses her ‘inner fire’ to make her eyes white-blue like super hot flames, cos the purple eyes are super distinctive. and then she’s discovered and suddenly politics are happening. honestly she’s entirely a way for me to remove the child marriage bits of the targaryen storyline (stop marrying off your twelve-year-old baby sister viserys u asshole) - in terms of meta/basics, laeya doesn’t have a fc cos most of my early ocs don’t, and bcs i picture her as emilia clarke with faked dark hair and blue eyes lol

and a quick aesthetic below:

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Kyrra Snow: (child of Robert Baratheon and Maery Snow, birthdate ???)

Kyrra Snow is the eldest natural-born child of Robert Baratheon, current King of Westeros, and daughter of Maery Snow, a Southron (but Northern-born) merchant woman. After her mother realises Kyrra was growing up a little too much like her father in looks and needed to leave the far South before she caught the wrong sort of attention, Kyrra was sent off to travel with her aunt and cousins. She is 17 and heading further north, to Winter Town, when Jon Arryn dies.

- kyrra’s another child of everyone’s favourite asshole king, and she’s got a lot of people after her head, but she just wants to travel and continue her work as a simple peddler. (riiip poor girl) honestly she’s not that developed but yolo -

aes:

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Brynn Stark: (child of Catelyn and Eddard Stark, Robb’s twin sister)  

Brynn believes in honour and family, and she is loyal to Winterfell and the North above all else. Likes - archery, embroidery and weaving. Betrothed to [some young Northern lord] to keep the bonds between the Norther families strong.

-i basically made brynn as a contrast to sansa’s pro-southnness and excessive femininity and arya’s anger and desire for swords (relatable mood tho lmao). so brynn is here to mediate, extoll the virtues of both needlework and weapons, make a decent marriage to someone she likes, if not loves, and hold down the fort in the North while shit gets increasingly messier in the South. and a possible faceclaim is Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey - 

aes:

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Rosienne Lannister: (child of Joanna and Tywin Lannister, born 273 AC)

Rose is looked at by the realm with dismissal, a consolation prize for her father, a spare daughter only useful for matchmaking, but at least able-bodied and pretty, unlike her brother. After a long betrothal, Rose is married to Willas Tyrell at the age of eighteen, cementing her role as the next Lady of High Garden...

- Rosie/Rose is a bonus Lannister, bcs why not. likes cyvasse and the harp, soft and kind and maternal, powerful in her own way. originally she was from a minor divergence where joanna survives tyrion’s birth and goes on to have another kid, but not sure if i’ll keep that aspect, so for now she’s tyrion’s twin -

and her aes (yes that quote is cropped, no i don’t care rn):

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honourable mentions to my other got underdeveloped got/asoiaf ocs who need more effort before i post properly about them:

Tamlen Storm, a rookery apprentice (working for the Maester of House Tully, managing the ravens) who may or may not be a reincarnated si-oc trying to save westeros, 

and an unnamed northern huntress who stumbled into the plot somehow and wants her normal life back (entirely inspired by Keira Knightley as Gwyn in Princess of Thieves, when she’s doing archery stuff and looking v butch).

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Harry Potter:

Taurus ‘Ara’ Lestrange:  (child of Bellatrix and Roldolphous Lestrange, born 1978) 

Raised by the Goblins after a legal mix-up following her parents' imprisonment in Azkaban, Taurus is good with a sword and aiming to be the next Minister of Magic. She attends Hogwarts with the other magical kids her age, under the fake identity Ara Burke, unknown cousin of a minor half-blood family. When the Potter brat’s drama starts destroying her change at an education just as her fourth year, her OWL prep year, begins, Ara intervenes.

- im tangentially aware that as bellatrix’s kid she’s almost occupying the place of whats-her-name from the cursed child, but considering that i know nothing about the cursed child and don’t care about it anyway, i have elected to ignore this. her actual parent might turn out to be some smitten half-blood from a minor branch of the Greengrass family, or it might actually be Rodolphous, who knows. slightly inspired by the fic ‘Harry Crow’ (by robst on ff.net) where harry is raised by the goblins -

messy aes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerian Potter: (child of Lily and James Potter, born 1980)

After the Potter twins’ parents are murdered by Voldemort, they’re dumped on the doorstep of Number 4, Privet Drive. Dealing with two traumatised magical orphans, Petunia and Vernon Dursley turn to violence and neglect to stay in control, acting far more harshly than expected. With the arrival of two Hogwarts letters, life gets complicated incredibly quickly. (Self-sufficient and scarred from abuse, Val and Harry are immediately Sorted into Slytherin). 

- val’s fic is basically an angst fest, okay,,, -

aes:

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and shout-outs to: holly addison potter, a half-baked reincarnation si-oc (i love that concept a lot, can u tell) and my fav girl thea dursley, who already has her own fic and so isn’t getting a proper spot in this post 

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The Hunger Games:

Asher: (District Two, age 18) 

[rip no blurb for asher]

-asher is a career from two, who wins the 70th games. mostly im focusing on her recovery and how the games function in two, with training volunteers and mentoring and collecting sponsors, plus eventually the rebellion. lots of the D2 headcanon i have is inspired by @/lorata but i defintely made a distinct effort to have my own stuff, cos where’s the fun in plagiarism -

aes for Asher’s Games:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Rowan Everdeen: (District Twelve, age 19)

Rowan will do anything to protect her family. This extends to going to Head Peacekeeper Cray on a cold winters night, charging the most she can get for her virginity.  It extends to Reaping Day, when she steps out in front of the crowd and says “I volunteer as tribute” in the steadiest voice she can muster.  It extends to clawing her way out of the Arena, bloody and exhausted, with blades in her hands and violence kept tucked behind her teeth. It extends further, to a simple ‘Yes, President Snow’ when he coldly, carefully implies her family might meet with an accident if she doesn’t play the good little Victor (and fuck the people who pay the Capitol for her company). It extends to joining the Rebellion, to looking President Coin directly in the eye and agreeing to be a Mockingjay, a symbol for the people to rally around.

- another everdeen kiddo! as the big sister, rowan volunteers for prim, and goes through the Games - she’s a healer and a hunter, and a decent enough actor that she can manage interviews and a camera presence, unlike katniss. rowan also pairs well with a minor au i have, where the reapings are spaced out over a week and official training is a longer, giving the capitol a nice, long buildup to get excited and place bets, etc., and giving the poor, underfed tributes from the outer districts a better chance, which makes for more interesting television and better Games -

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Adrasteia Crane: (The Capitol, age 28) Unlike her big brother, Adrasteia doesn’t want to be a Gamemaker. Instead, she wants to create clothes, artwork, to enrapture the Capitol. She wants to be a Games stylist. After years of design school, of working her way up the ranks, first a PA’s assistant, and then fetching and carrying for Twelve’s prep team, and then eventually on a prep team for the dull tributes from Six, Adrasteia Crane finally has what she wants - the position of stylist for District Three’s male tribute in 74th Hunger Games. 

- tbh adrasteia is only seneca crane’s sister because i couldn’t think of a suitable last name for her lmao. i think i’d actually prefer her to be unattached to any major canon players. however, his death is a good motivation for her to join the rebellion, so we’ll see. she’s got a bit of the capitol fashion thing going too, with soft pink hair and diamond-effect skin on her face and shoulders -

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also bonus hunger games content: another oc, Sarsaparilla Verran, from District Eleven, fifteen and alone when she goes into the Games. An orphan, her siblings lost to the Community Home system years ago, her relatives dead or uncaring. So, Rilla is a wee lonely bab tbh. she did not want this, unlike most of my other hg ocs, and she’s not excited for weeks of murder. she just wants her family back, but since that isn’t possible, she’ll build a new family instead. and uuhhhhh,  spoiler alert, she dies before she can have this ://///

and my hunger games aus - a canon divergence where katniss joins the careers instead of peeta, her desire to go home to her family outweighing her reactive hate for the concept of training/volunteering to kill other teens, and a fem!Haymitch au where she’s a little wiser to the dark side of the capitol before she commits acts of rebellion (she still rebels anyway tho, just smarter).

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Riverdale:

Cat Cooper: (middle child of Alice and Hal Cooper) Cat Cooper (17) is the black sheep of the Cooper family. Her piercings, brightly dyed hair and connections to the Southside Serpents make her the odd one out among her sisters and constantly at odds with Alice Cooper. Cat’s life is occupied with her Serpent friends, work at a local coffee shop, and training - martial arts, supplemented with cross country, gymnastics and swimming. Until her older sister is shipped off to places unknown and her baby sister starts getting caught up in murder investigation with the absent Serpent heir... 

- haven’t decided between Catelyn or Catherine for Cat’s full name lmao. she used to be Kit, actually, but I changed it cos i prefer Kit to solely be my divergent oc (kit serafim). Cat is an ADHD disaster who loves her sisters and her friends and wants to get the hell out of Riverdale on a sports scholarship (she does either boxing or karate mainly, need to figure that bit out) -

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Georgie Andrews: (child of Mary and Fred Andrews)

Georgie likes soft drinks, cheerleading, and hanging out with the Blossom twins and Polly Cooper, their closest friends and a welcome distraction from their own problems. After Polly and Jason vanish, Georgie’s support system is almost gone, and they has to deal with everything they’ve been bottling up, just in time for Fred Andrews to get shot.

- also just angst ngl.  so georgie’s gender is basically ???, they enjoy cheerleading and not much else. they spend half their time dealing with depression, by trying to ignore stressful/hard topics and focus on the good side of everything. this isn’t a great long-term coping mechanism and has the fun side effect of pissing of the people around him when she seems unable to be serious or empathetic to someone else's pain (bcs she’s too busy deflecting for the sake of her own fragile mental health), so it gets fun when fred is shot and archie starts getting in too deep with the lodges -

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Sera Thornstone: (parents ???) Southside Serpent. Going to the Riverdale Community College and running errands for FP Jones. And secretly meeting up with her Ghoulie lover down by the Sweetwater where nobody goes. 

- everything about sera is vague and undecided lmao. but she has a ghoulie gf/bf/nbf? and they’re hiding that they were down by the river on the 4th of july, cos a serpent is an immediate suspect. going to community college to work on getting general credits before saving up for fancy school for law or journalism. the aes isn’t entirely accurate cos sera’s built from the remains of another serpent oc who i scrapped (she does have a baseball bat tho) -

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and honourable mentions to jen johnson and octavia blossom-murphy, my other riverdale ocs who actually have content, plus an in-development unnamed oc who gets adopted from the soqm by the Muggs family and growsup with Ethel. and my riverdale role reversal au, which i will never write but have some nice aesthetics for under the tag wip: bughead role reversal au.

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all my mini-aesthetics here are unsourced images/from pinterest. any similarities to other people or characters, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 

alrighty that’s it. now i have to tag this behemoth argh

[bonesgadh]

Gendrya’s three acts.

For this meta I’m not taking into consideration my “Arya and Gendry’s final clothes are meant to tell us ‘My Featherbed’ is complete” theory, mostly because I wrote like 80% of what you are about to read on Wednesday before I had my epiphany.

Okay so I know my first meta about all the evidence pointing to us getting our soft Gendrya epilogue sorta kinda went to shit because most of the stuff I said would happen didn’t, but here I am, clown make-up still on and I just want to rescue a few things from that post:

In my meta I mentioned how we have seen Gendrya complete two acts of their story. A couple of weeks ago I still believed they would give us the third act in the last two episodes but they didn’t (fuck them), but in my head that only means one thing: that the third act is yet to unfold.

(Now for this I drew some inspiration from @mehomom‘s comment on @misseffie’s post).

Any writer no matter how basic and stupid (@D&D) knows every story has a three-act structure: Setup, Confrontation and Resolution. It’s writing 101. This applies to ships as well.

Gendrya:

Setup: their arc from seasons 1, 2 and 3. They meet, they get along, she tells him the truth about her identity, blah blah blah, they separate after she asks him to go with her, he gets on a boat and rows forever. No one knows where he is or if he’ll ever return and they don’t see each other for years. A lot of things happen to them, especially Arya.

Confrontation: their arc from season 8. They reconnect, they flirt, they act on their attraction for one another, they separate after he offers her to go with him, she gets on a boat and will travel for a while, probably a few months or even years. Technically no one knows if she is going to return (although she obviously is. This is the girl who defeated death and saved humanity, there’s no way she’s going to die at sea without anyone knowing what happened to her).

I think it’s important to mention how big the things that separated them each time really are. First it was the social difference, then it was the imminent power unbalance. @mehomom​ calls them “extra layers”, layers they were able to ignore when they slept together because they thought they were going to die. They survived but they were also forced to remember those layers were still there and they were still preventing them from being together, which sucks because they love each other deeply but their timing sucks (more on that later).

The way I see it the final episode settled the ground for the third act of their story: the Resolution. Unfortunately we won’t get to see it on screen but the way their story was constructed points to them eventually reaching it in the future. 

During the setup they were pretty much children (she was 11-12 and he was 16-17). During the confrontation they were technically adults (she was 18 and he was 23) but sometimes they still behaved like angsty drunken teenagers *Lots of using of the word “ready” coming up, apologies in advance*. Each time they separated it was because one of them wasn’t ready. First time? She is ready (or as ready as a 13-year old can be) but he isn’t; second time? He is ready (or as ready as a drunk, freshly legitimized blacksmith-turned-Lord can be) but she isn’t. They weren’t mature enough, they had other plans in mind, they were scared and confused about their feelings—choose your fighter, it doesn’t matter. But in the future? As @misseffie says, third time is the charm.

Arya was forced to grow up in the cruelest of ways. We all agree she is a badass and one of the best characters in GOT—and arguably in the history of fiction—but because of that badassery sometimes we forget she is still a very young woman. At 18 you are technically an adult, but emotionally? You are still a teenager. Most of us didn’t know shit when we were that age, why would Arya be any different? Gendry is still very young as well. He and I are the same age and I still have no idea what to do with my life, and I’m not the one who just inherited a castle, titles and lands after a life without nothing.

When they reconnect during the resolution they will finally be emotional adults. Gendry needs to learn how to be a Lord, to embrace his new responsibilities and overall adjust to his new identity and position. He’ll have to learn how to read and write, about history, economics, politics, etiquette. Now I’m not saying he’ll make the conscious decision to wait for her—because let’s be honest, if it were the other way around we would all be screaming sexism— but he has a long road ahead, I seriously doubt he will have time to find himself a bride because he’ll be busy learning stuff. Arya, on the other hand, will get to travel and know the world. She clearly wants to have new experiences now that she has embraced life, and she still needs to find herself after all the shit she went through (I’ll elaborate more on this topic in another meta). They clearly weren’t ready to be together the first time, they weren’t ready to be together the second time, they’ll finally be the third time.

Arya and Gendry’s timing and their choice of words to confess their love has never been their strongest suit. They met when they were both fugitives (not the most romantic set up), Arya insinuated Gendry could work for her brother but Gendry was already sick of serving, she poured her heart out to him with the “I can be your family” line but he pointed out their class difference would be an obstacle. Fast forward to five years later and they met again a few days short of the apocalypse, did the nasty while death was literally knocking at the door (again, not the most romantic set up). Gendry word-vomited his devotion for Arya and asked her “to be his wife” and to “be the Lady of Storm’s End”, but she turned him down because she didn’t want that kind of life. When they reunite after Arya returns from her voyages their timing will finally be adequate, and hopefully the words they use to confess their feelings for each other will be as well.

It seems as if finding their way back to each other however unlikely the odds are is kind of Arya and Gendry’s thing, and the hope of them reuniting is what kept the ship alive during the seasons they were apart. No one knew if we would see Gendry again, he could’ve been lost at sea because of a storm or dead. We had to wait literal years to see him again. Now the same thing will happen to Arya. She’ll be out of the game for a while and people will fear the worst. However she’ll find her way back home again, she always does.

[tacitwhisky]

Jon / Sansa Reread - Jon I, AGOT

< Previous Chapter (Bran I) | Next Chapter (Arya I) >

In which Jon gets drunk at a feast, embarrases himself, and talks to Tyrion.

After his introduction in Bran I, this is our first glimpse into Jon’s head, and boy is it a thorough one. Despite being a somewhat simple chapter from a plot perspective, in just a few short interactions Martin packs in a huge amount of material to show how Jon sees himself, his bastard identity, and how he engages with the world and his place in it, threads that will continue throughout the entirety of the series.

(I’ll be linking to several in depth metas about each thread throughout the reread, but also gathering them together in a further reading section at the end of the post for convenience.)

It was the fourth hour of the welcoming feast laid for the king. Jon’s brothers and sisters had been seated with the royal children, beneath the raised platform where Lord and Lady Stark hosted the king and queen.

Jon starts the chapter exiled to a literal lower tier of society. Later in the chapter he’ll tell his uncle Benjen it’s because Catelyn doesn’t want him sullying the main table as a bastard because of the presence of the royal family. This brings up an interesting aspect of Jon’s position within the Stark household; not only does he exist in a sort of liminal space between two different classes, noble and not, but where exactly he exists on that spectrum is fluid and fickle.

Once he goes to the wall Donal Noye will rightly point out all the privilege Jon grew up with, but something not really discussed is just how fragile that privilege is; at the drop of a pin Jon can go from son to bastard, from sitting at the high table to sitting at the low. Stability is hugely important for children, and not having any growing up is nearly as damaging as simply not having privilege to begin with. From a young age Jon would’ve internalized that the world was an unstable and untrustworthy place and on some level instinctively understood he had only himself to rely on. As maester Luwin says, “bastards grow faster than other children.”

This actually helps explain why Jon is so proactive any time he enters a new environment. Time after time in the series Jon will be thrust into a new environment and immediately start gathering allies and taking decisive action. At Castle Black he quickly forms a clique (Sam, Grenn, Pyp) and confronts Alliser Thorne. Once he’s Lord Commander he gets the wildlings on his side and immediately starts rebuilding and manning the Wall.

This is an interesting meta on how Jon tends to gather up the downtrodden as his allies, and the ways that while Jon may not realize it, it’s not completely altruistic because by taking them in he’s also making them loyal and beholden to him, and is really just a good rundown of the practicality and moral greyness lurking in Jon. To quote from it for a minute:

“Jon’s advocacy for Sam looked like a thing he did because he’s a good person, and I ultimately do think that’s the case. Still, he did something which required absolutely no effort on his part, and look what he got out of it. Sam isn’t just the best friend Jon will ever have, he’s a powerful asset to the Watch and he’s Jon’s most loyal supporter.”

Though never explicitly thought on by Jon, the very physical illustration here in the first chapter of having to sit at a lower table than his brothers and sisters because of simply who’s visiting must’ve crystalized for him how tenuous his place in the Stark household really is, and probably helps drive him to ask Benjen to join the Night’s Watch later in the chapter.

In honor of the occasion, his lord father would doubtless permit each child a glass of wine, but no more than that. Down here on the benches, there was no one to stop Jon drinking as much as he had a thirst for.

And he was finding that he had a man’s thirst, to the raucous delight of the youths around him, who urged him on every time he drained a glass. They were fine company, and Jon relished the stories they were telling, tales of battle and bedding and the hunt. He was certain that his companions were more entertaining than the king’s offspring. He had sated his curiosity about the visitors when they made their entrance. The procession had passed not a foot from the place he had been given on the bench, and Jon had gotten a good long look at them all.

Methinks the bastard doth protest too much...

On a more serious note, throughout the series Jon will have to navigate through different levels of society, interacting with thieves, lords, wildlings, and two different kings, and this chapter lays out the foundation for just how naturally it comes to him. He’s perfectly comfortable with the other squires and youths (besides his resentment at being banished).

His lord father had come first, escorting the queen. She was as beautiful as men said. A jeweled tiara gleamed amidst her long golden hair, its emeralds a perfect match for the green of her eyes. His father helped her up the steps to the dais and led her to her seat, but the queen never so much as looked at him. Even at fourteen, Jon could see through her smile.

This is a narrative trick Martin uses a lot throughout the series: he’ll start the chapter in the present (the feast), have the character think back to what’s happened in the past (the entrance of the royal party) and then back to the present (feast again). It’s a good way of filling in what happened between chapters for a character (gaps that can be upwards of seven or eight chapters later in the series) without boring the reader or wasting their time.

After them came the children. Little Rickon first, managing the long walk with all the dignity a three-year-old could muster. Jon had to urge him on when he stopped to visit. Close behind came Robb, in grey wool trimmed with white, the Stark colors. He had the Princess Myrcella on his arm.

Having the Starks escort in one by one the royal family is a nice way of both introducing them, their relationship to Jon, and also emphasize Jon’s isolation: they are literally closer to the royal family than him at the moment.

She [Myrcella] was a wisp of a girl, not quite eight, her hair a cascade of golden curls under a jeweled net. Jon noticed the shy looks she gave Robb as they passed between the tables and the timid way she smiled at him. He decided she was insipid. Robb didn’t even have the sense to realize how stupid she was; he was grinning like a fool.

There’s two things going on here. The first is Jon is feeling left out and so he’s transferring his anger onto Myrcella by calling her insipid in his head. But part of his distaste comes from something more complicated, and is the first indication of Jon’s low key dislike for traditionally feminine women throughout the series.

I read a really great meta about this once (which is unfortunately lost to time no matter how many times I look for it), that outlines how while Jon values women as a whole and has no problem respecting non-traditional women (Arya, Ygritte, Alys, Val) he has issues with traditionally feminine women (Myrcella, Catelyn, Selyse, Gilly), and that it almost for sure originates with Catelyn; she’s the head of the female half of Winterfell and symbolized all refined westerosi femininity for Jon growing up. And considering how openly hostile she was to him it’s really not surprising he’d be uncomfortable with the femininity she embodied.

This idea is actually the origin of my Jon of the Kingsguard fic: the idea that both Jon and Sansa start in a place where they don’t respect each other (he for her perceived feminine weakness, she for his bastard status) and by the end have grown and learned to appreciate what they once didn’t. Overall I wish it was a side of Jon’s character that was explored a little more in fic, especially fic that has him interacting with Sansa (though this is an aspect completely missing from show!Jon so that may be why it doesn’t much come up).

His half sisters escorted the royal princes. Arya was paired with plump young Tommen, whose white-blond hair was longer than hers. Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon’s vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister’s hair and his mother’s deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey’s pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell’s Great Hall.

This entire paragraph is very clearly about Joffrey, with Sansa as a kind of afterthought. It’s one of the frustrating things about how Martin writes Sansa, but outside of Arya (and Robb a little) we really don’t get any idea of what her relationship on a day to day basis was like with the other starklings, especially Jon.

Even just a sentence here, like how Rickon came to say hi to Jon and had to be shooed back into line, could’ve done a lot to characterize Jon and Sansa’s relationship. Did she purposefully not look at him? Or did she look at him pityingly? Offer an encouraging smile? We don’t know.

In the show Sansa says she was awful to Jon, but there’s no actual indication that’s the case in the books from what I remember, and just that one line in the show. There really is just a black hole where their relationship should be. It’s one of the things that I think make them so shippable to people: they don’t ever think of each other as siblings so the incest vibe can be as high or low as you want, and that blank space can be filled with whatever headcanon you find interesting or appealing.

I’ll get into this more in Sansa’s chapters, but a lot of this I think is the legacy of Sansa being a late add on to the Starks and one primarily created to contrast with Arya. While there’s no doubt that Martin likes Sansa, there’s a lot of ways that here in AGOT she’s an underserved and under developed character. This early in the writing process I think Martin just hadn’t really thought through her relationships with the other starklings.

The last of the high lords to enter were his uncle, Benjen Stark of the Night’s Watch, and his father’s ward, young Theon Greyjoy. Benjen gave Jon a warm smile as he went by. Theon ignored him utterly, but there was nothing new in that.

This is more fuel for my theory from last chapter that Theon ignored Jon because he wanted to stay close to privilege.

Back in the present, Jon sulks, tries to convince himself he’s having a good time, feeds Ghost, and then Benjen comes to sit with him.

Benjen Stark gave Jon a long look. “Don’t you usually eat at table with your brothers?”

“Most times,” Jon answered in a flat voice. “But tonight Lady Stark thought it might give insult to the royal family to seat a bastard among them.”

“I see.” His uncle glanced over his shoulder at the raised table at the far end of the hall. “My brother does not seem very festive tonight.”

Jon had noticed that too. A bastard had to learn to notice things, to read the truth that people hid behind their eyes.

I’ve heard the last part referred to as early installment weirdness, and I think that’s partially true. Jon doesn’t really mention it again, but he is remarkably perceptive and willing to learn and listen to others later in the series. I’d also argue he has a low key reactive paranoia to almost everyone he meets that he doesn’t immediately like, which can appear like him being perceptive, but is more just suspicion.

Benjen gave Jon a careful, measuring look. “You don’t miss much, do you, Jon? We could use a man like you on the Wall.”

Jon swelled with pride. “Robb is a stronger lance than I am, but I’m the better sword, and Hullen says I sit a horse as well as anyone in the castle.”

“Notable achievements.”

“Take me with you when you go back to the Wall,” Jon said in a sudden rush. “Father will give me leave to go if you ask him, I know he will.”

Uncle Benjen studied his face carefully. “The Wall is a hard place for a boy, Jon.”

“I am almost a man grown,” Jon protested. “I will turn fifteen on my next name day, and Maester Luwin says bastards grow up faster than other children.”

Notice how Benjen first says Jon would be good at the Wall, then when Jon shows interest tells him it’s too tough and manly and adult for him like he didn’t just suggest it himself. He offers something, then when Jon reaches for it he slaps his hand.

“Daeren Targaryen was only fourteen when he conquered Dorne,” Jon said. The Young Dragon was one of his heroes.

“A conquest that lasted a summer,” his uncle pointed out. “Your Boy King lost ten thousand men taking the place, and another fifty trying to hold it. Someone should have told him that war isn’t a game.” He took another sip of wine. “Also,” he said, wiping his mouth, “Daeren Targaryen was only eighteen when he died. Or have you forgotten that part?”

More negging on Benjen’s part implying that Jon is a child who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. More importantly though, this is one of the first indications of just how idealistic Jon fundamentally is. There’s a lot of meta that goes into the parallels between that idealism and belief in stories and Sansa’s love of songs of knights and ladies and how that shapes her worldview.

And much like Sansa, throughout his character arc Jon has to grow past that initial faith in stories and grapple with the reality of war and loss and ruling. It’s easy to picture the Young Dragon as one of the heroes of AGOT’s Jon, but much harder to picture the Jon of ADWD thinking so favorably of a bold and brash king that went to conquer another country; not after his experiences with loss and the wildlings.

“I forget nothing,” Jon boasted. The wine was making him bold. He tried to sit very straight, to make himself seem taller. “I want to serve in the Night’s Watch, Uncle.”

He had thought on it long and hard, lying abed at night while his brothers slept around him. Robb would someday inherit Winterfell, would command great armies as the Warden of the North. Bran and Rickon would be Robb’s bannermen and rule holdfasts in his name. His sisters Arya and Sansa would marry the heirs of other great houses and go south as mistress of castles of their own. But what place could a bastard hope to earn?

The sad part of this is Jon’s thoughts here about his future are completely rational. One of Ned’s major failures as a parent is how unclear he’s been with Jon about his future. This meta goes into it more in depth, but there are a lot of futures Ned could’ve set up for Jon (giving him a holdfast in the gift or becoming Winterfell’s Castellan, for example), but he never communicates them to Jon or really seems to have thought about them. A lot of this springs from Ned’s own trauma; because of just how brutally his family was halved he seems to want to keep his children young for as long as possible. This was more or less ok for the rest of the starklings, but for Jon whose position is already tenuous, it would only make him more insecure.

Ned should’ve sat Jon down at a much younger age and explained what the shape of his life could look like. Because he didn’t, Jon takes matters into his own hands (going back to the proactive thing) and decides that the best option for him is to join a lifelong half penal colony institution at fourteen.

“You don’t know what you’re asking, Jon. The Night’s Watch is a sworn brotherhood. We have no families. None of us will ever father sons. Our wife is duty. Our mistress is honor.”

“A bastard can have honor too,” Jon said. “I am ready to swear your oath.”

“You are a boy of fourteen,” Benjen said. “Not a man, not yet. Until you have known a woman, you cannot understand what you would be giving up.”

“I don’t care about that!” Jon said hotly.

“You might, if you knew what it meant,” Benjen said. “If you knew what the oath would cost you, you might be less eager to pay the price, son.”

Jon felt anger rise inside him. “I’m not your son!”

Benjen Stark stood up. “More’s the pity.” He put a hand on Jon’s shoulder. “Come back to me after you’ve fathered a few bastards of your own, and we’ll see how you feel.”

Some people have said that the scene with Catelyn and Jon at Bran’s bedside is what permanently put them off Catelyn as a character; I get that, because this scene does the same to Benjen for me. It is such an utter dick move on Benjen’s part to put down Jon because he hasn’t gotten laid yet, to equate sex with maturity, and to taunt Jon with the fathering bastards thing which he has to know is a sore subject for Jon. Jon at this point is drunk and at the height of his insecurity about his place in Winterfell, and instead of comforting him or talking him through it, Benjen preys on his insecurity and dismisses him.

This meta makes a convincing case that Jon joining the Night’s Watch at such a young age is a comprehensive failure of all the adults in his life, and it’s hard to argue against. To quote from it:

“Both Starks completely and utterly failed to provide Jon with the necessary information he needed to make a conscious and informed decision to commit to that institution. They let him, a teenager who feels he has no place in the world to call his, make a decision based on incomplete information then held him to it, and allowed him to walk into binding lifelong commitment completely unprepared.”

Jon trembled. “I will never father a bastard,” he said carefully. “Never!” He spat it out like venom.

What’s interesting about this line is not just that it gives us insight into Jon’s views on his sexuality, but it shows just how much Jon internalizes his bastard status. It’s not just that he’s dispirited that other people view him with prejudice and treat him as lesser, but he also internalizes that into his view of himself and how he thinks he should act. Everything is internalized because of the ideas of personal responsibility that Ned instilled in him.

Suddenly he realized that the table had fallen silent, and they were all looking at him. He felt the tears begin to well behind his eyes. He pushed himself to his feet.

“I must be excused,” he said with the last of his dignity. He whirled and bolted before they could see him cry. He must have drunk more wine than he had realized. His feet got tangled under him as he tried to leave, and he lurched sideways into a serving girl and sent a flagon of spiced wine crashing to the floor. Laughter boomed all around him, and Jon felt hot tears on his cheeks. Someone tried to steady him. He wrenched free of their grip and ran, half-blind, for the door. Ghost followed close at his heels, out into the night.

As a writing technique this is a good way for Martin to have us identify and sympathize with Jon. We’ve all been in embarrassing situations, and kicking your character in the gut is always a good way to get the audience on their side (up to a certain point; after that it just alienates us from them). It’s also a good way of emphasizing Jon’s youth and reminding us that the kid is barely fourteen.

(And where is Benjen for this? Such a dick.)

Once he makes his way outside Jon runs into Tyrion who’s perched high on a ledge. We then have the most blatant example of early installment weirdness in the whole series when Tyrion backflips off the ledge (gymnastic prowess that will never get mentioned again until ADWD). Tyrion then tries to pet Ghost.

The wolf pup padded closer and nuzzled at Jon’s face, but he kept a wary eye on Tyrion Lannister, and when the dwarf reached out to pet him, he drew back and bared his fangs in a silent snarl.

“Shy, isn’t he?” Lannister observed.

“Sit, Ghost,” Jon commanded. “That’s it. Keep still.” He looked up at the dwarf. “You can touch him now. He won’t move until I tell him to. I’ve been training him.”

“I see,” Lannister said. He ruffled the snow-white fur between Ghost’s ears and said, “Nice wolf.”

“If I wasn’t here, he’d tear out your throat,” Jon said. It wasn’t actually true yet, but it would be.

This is such a hilariously teenager thing to exaggerate and boast about. It’s also a subtle hint of how comfortable Jon is with violence, a theme we’ll come back to in later chapters. He’s drunk here though, so we should cut him some slack anyway.

“You’re Ned Stark’s bastard, aren’t you?”

Jon felt a coldness pass right through him. He pressed his lips together and said nothing.

“Did I offend you?” Lannister said. “Sorry. Dwarfs don’t have to be tactful. Generations of capering fools in motley have won me the right to dress badly and say any damn thing that comes into my head.” He grinned. “You are the bastard, though.”

“Lord Eddard Stark is my father,” Jon admitted stiffly.

While Tyrion’s dwarfism and Jon’s bastardy both marginalize them, the stereotypes between the two aren’t the same, and because he’s older, Tyrion has found a way to perform his when it’s useful (even as he hates the stereotype itself). In this case it’s the Wise Fool. It’s an interesting contrast with Jon, who will never quite pick up this skill outside of his time with the wildlings where the stereotype of the bitter and treacherous bastard is useful for getting Mance to think he’s switched sides.

Largely I think it comes down to a difference in their comfort with deception: Tyrion is very good at lying (especially in ACOK when he’s in a constant game of cat and mouse with Cersei), where Jon as the son of a Stark believes in personal responsibility in a way that has him chafe any time he has to.

Lannister studied his face. “Yes,” he said. “I can see it. You have more of the north in you than your brothers.”

“Half brothers,” Jon corrected. He was pleased by the dwarf’s comment, but he tried not to let it show.

From a prose perspective, Martin bluntly stating that Jon “was pleased by the dwarf’s comment” is interesting because it should be an example of bad writing: it’s telling, not showing, right? But bluntly stating character’s reactions and emotions is something Martin actually does a lot. I think he gets away with it for two primary reasons. The first is that his prose can be so laconic and sparse at times that it just feel natural to state things straightforwardly. And the second is that Martin can pull out more complex descriptions for emotions when he needs to, which helps the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks when he doesn’t.

(Doing this may also just be a leftover of having written scripts for most of his life. In a script it’s fine to just state what emotion the character has because it’ll be filtered and communicated through the actor and dialogue. And Martin does write really naturalistic dialogue.)

“Let me give you some counsel, bastard,” Lannister said. “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”

Jon was in no mood for anyone’s counsel. “What do you know about being a bastard?”

“All dwarfs are bastards in their father’s eyes.”

“You are your mother’s trueborn son of Lannister.”

“Am I?” the dwarf replied, sardonic. “Do tell my lord father. My mother died birthing me, and he’s never been sure.”

“I don’t even know who my mother was,” Jon said.

“Some woman, no doubt. Most of them are.” He favored Jon with a rueful grin. “Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs.”

This is a key, key scene and concept for Jon’s entire series arc; that the best way to deal with prejudice is to face it head on and reappropriate it. That ethos will form the care of his Lord Snow persona thought it’ll take him a few chapters at Castle Black to really internalize the lesson and start making use of it.

This conversation with Tyrion is also the first of the many peeling aways of Jon’s blinkers when it comes to his privileges. It’s the starting point of his ability to empathize with other marginal groups: first Tyrion, then the Castle Black recruits, then the wildlings. That ability to grow and learn (despite the constant mantra of knowing nothing) and empathize with others is what separates Jon from just any other run of the mill peasant boy to high king fantasy protagonist.

And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast, whistling a tune. When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.

And with that this insanely long chapter comes to an end. Next up will by Arya I, in which we finally get to properly meet Sansa. Until then below are the metas I linked to (and a few more) to keep you occupied.

Also check out my meta tag, or my fanfic. And feel free to ask me a question about this chapter or anything else here on tumblr. I love interacting with my ASOIAF fam.

Linked Metas:

--The practicality of Jon’s relationships

--How Jon joining the Night’s Watch is a story of the adults in his life failing him

--How Ned failed to prepare his kids (especially Jon) for their adult lives

--Why Ned didn’t foster Jon at another northern house

--What Ned should have told Jon about his parentage

< Previous Chapter (Bran I) | Next Chapter (Arya I) >

Photo Credit: Kali Ciesemier

[sheikah]

My thoughts on Friki’s 8.01 leak

Ok so first and foremost I just want to say that this information is received second and even thirdhand. I do not speak Spanish and did not watch Friki’s video. As it was playing @adecila was kind enough to translate for @muttpeeta who was kind enough to chat with me. My bff @dracarysqueen was also feeding me some info (thanks my love!) and I read a somewhat broken English and at times unclear translation here. It gives you a gist of the video and I’m grateful to u/hang_the_dj2 for making it.  Edit: Here is @adecila‘s leak translation so that you guys can draw your own conclusions without my salt about these revelations haha. Her translation is the undisputed best and I didn’t see it prior to writing this post, though my response is still the same!

One of the first things I read about the leak was the bit about Gendry/Arya. Essentially Gendry makes a weapon to Arya’s specifications. He calls her “m’lady” purposely to fluster her. There is “sexual tension” between Arya and Gendry. HELLO??? I can’t fucking wait. This is going to take over as like the whole world’s GoT OTP lol calling it now <3 

Arya apparently also reunites with the Hound. My takeaway from that bit of the translation is that Sandor mentions something about how Arya didn’t go through with killing him, and I guess he’s grateful for that now? That part was a bit unclear to me in the translation I read. 

Arya also reunites with Jon (!!!!!) where they share a tender hug, compare weapons with one another, and generally have a sweet and positive interaction. Arya is wary of telling Jon that she’s a Faceless Man, and Jon asks Arya to try and talk Sansa into coming around re: Dany. It is obvious that Sansa dislikes or distrusts Dany and Jon is troubled by this and asks for Arya’s help. I’ve heard from one person that Jon also asks Arya to talk to Dany herself. I’m really pleased by the prospect of this because I knew that Arya would support Jon no matter what, and that that support would extend to Dany since they’re obviously in love. 

Speaking of, Friki did make note of the fact that Jonerys is obvious to everyone else: Davos, Tyrion, Varys, etc. Sansa can see it too and asks Jon point blank if he bent the knee out of love or if he did it to save the North. Apparently Jon is extremely taken aback that she would ask this question. We aren’t told more about this moment but I’m guessing Jon is offended that she would ever think he would do something as serious as swearing fealty to Dany simply because of his romantic feelings, and not with the best interests of his home and family at heart. I’ll be interested to see how that conversation ends.

Also, I realize we all already knew this (and have been knowing this literally forever) but these revelations all completely disprove political!Jon. Yeah, it was already disproven by the scripts and basically everything else about canon but this is just another nail in the coffin. Jon having apparently private conversations with both Sansa and Arya about his love for Dany pretty much solidifies that he isn’t secretly playing her in the interest of Stark supremacy or independence. 

That independence, though, is something that is still important to the Northern lords. Lyanna Mormont is outspoken in her disapproval of Dany as queen. She notes that they chose Jon as king, not Dany. Again, we knew this was coming, but I’m stricken again by how silly this is. It’s literally the end of the world. Can this discussion not wait?

Anyway, the Northern lords are not a fan of Dany and it is obvious. Apparently Dany attempts to ingratiate herself to Sansa. Something along the lines of her telling Sansa the North is beautiful. I guess this isn’t successful given the bit about Jon talking to Arya about how much Sansa dislikes Dany.

The Northern lords also tell Jon and Dany soon after their arrival at Winterfell that the Night King has turned Viserion into a wight and is riding him. Dany is distraught by this information and encourages Jon to ride Rhaegal already, in episode 1, BEFORE he finds out about being a Targaryen. They do this to try and get an edge over the Night King. 

Jon does ride Rhaegal while Dany rides Drogon, it’s a great time, and they have a pretty passionate makeout session afterward lol. Friki specifically said this was a good episode for Jonerys scenes. I obviously love this bit of info and think it’s hot and exactly what I want for them both. Who wouldn’t get turned on by riding a dragon with Dany???? (also, lol at how accurate @muttpeeta‘s fic is!!!!) My only wish is that the dragon riding happened after the reveal. I just think it would be a more significant acceptance of his identity for Jon to reach this milestone after discovering he’s a Targaryen. At the same time, I like this because it shows how much Dany loves and trusts him already. Before learning he’s a Targ, before learning he has a claim to the IT, she is already willing to share everything with Jon--even her “children.”

Also at Winterfell, Dany and Jorah break the news to Sam about the death of Randyll and Dickon. This is the part I really don’t like, so I apologize in advance for the rant here. So Dany shares this information and Sam is unbothered by the death of his father. Good. We expected that. He is, however, perturbed by the death of Dickon. While he thanks Dany for sharing the information with him, he is upset and apparently leaves to seek out Bran for more insight. Bran stresses that it isn’t important and that Jon needs to know the truth of his parentage. So Sam leaves Bran and finds Jon in the crypts. 

The first thing Sam shares with Jon, though, has nothing to do with Jon or his parentage. Sam finds Jon to tell him that Dany killed Randyll and Dickon. Jon, understandably, isn’t really phased. There are more important things to worry about, and Jon points out that not only do they need Dany, Dany is the queen. This is the moment when Sam drops the bomb. He tells Jon the truth of his parentage. Jon is shocked and denies it. Sam pushes further and tells him that Dany doesn’t have to be the queen because Jon is the king. 

This is the part that really, really bothers me. A lot. I knew there would be friction about Jon’s parentage. I knew there would be friction about Jon’s claim to the Iron Throne. What I didn’t expect was for the Tarly deaths to be brought up again (literally they brought these unimportant characters back in s7 just to kill them, just to cast doubt on Dany’s decision-making by her male advisers) in the same breath as Jon’s parentage reveal. These things are not of equal importance. The world is literally ending and we’re supposed to be worried about Dany’s judgment again? And to say she “killed” Randyll and Dickon is silly anyway. Let’s not forget: Dany didn’t break into Horn Hill with a dagger and kill Sam’s unsuspecting family in their sleep. Sam’s family betrayed Olenna Tyrell, sacked the Reach, wiped out the entirety of House Tyrell leaving no survivors at Highgarden, and allowed their liege Lady to be murdered in cold blood by Jaime Lannister. Dany retaliated on behalf of her slain allies and even offered mercy to the Tarlys if ony they’d swear allegiance to her instead. They refused, and died for their crimes. Why is this still being discussed? I genuinely don’t understand. 

By comparison, the Umbers and Karstarks betrayed their liege and were killed, but that act was seen as so egregious that Sansa suggested (and was supported in this suggestion by many Northerners) that even the descendants of the traitors be rooted out of their homes in retaliation for treachery. So why is Dany’s righteous vengeance on traitors still an issue? Why?

The episode apparently ends with Sam telling Jon that he is the heir. Again, I understand that. Westeros is built on male-preference primogeniture. Jon’s claim could trump Dany’s (for multiple reasons) and Sam and others would see that and likely push Jon to see it. The natural extension of that argument would be to suggest that Jon and Dany marry and unite their claims. Instead, Sam is possibly (again, we just had one brief video and multiple translations and interpretations of this video. I’m not sure exactly what Sam said) encouraging Jon to press his claim as king because 1. he has a potentially better claim and 2. because Sam might not believe Dany is an ideal queen due to the Tarly execution after the loot train battle. 

I just hate this. I find it massively OOC for Sam to use the huge moment of Jon’s parentage reveal to air his grievances about something Dany did. I find it massively OOC for Sam to be so concerned about Dickon in the first place, especially now. We have not been shown a positive Sam/Dickon relationship in canon, and Dickon was aware of Randyll’s abuse of Sam--he witnessed it firsthand--and did nothing to protect Sam or stand up to his father. On the contrary, Dickon loved and looked up to the brutal Randyll enough to willingly die at his side. This was not a man who was overly concerned about Sam, or vice versa. But now, suddenly, Sam loves his little brother enough to complain to Jon about Dickon’s death in a way that disparages Dany? Additionally, Sam is one of the few people at Winterfell who knows exactly how big of a threat the Night King and the White Walkers are, and we’re supposed to believe his main concern right now is what happened to Dickon? We’re also supposed to believe that Sam, Jon’s best friend, would think he could talk Jon into being king of the 7K, despite Jon’s multiple explicit statements about how much he abhors ruling?

So we’re going to have a delightful week between episodes 1 and 2 during which the antis compose dissertation-length dark!Dany meta like crazy. We have to suffer under what I consider to be a very poorly manufactured conflict that was written just for petty drama. I literally spent the day today at a conference on Women’s Leadership and one of the key topics discussed was how women with true power are seen as threatening and have to work twice as hard to be taken seriously. Glad to see Game of Thrones doing literally nothing to challenge that idea where Dany is concerned. 

Moving on. 

We also apparently learn that Theon saves Yara early on, early enough to be back at Winterfell in time for the Battle of Winterfell. I’m thrilled as a shameless Yara fangirl :)

In King’s Landing Cersei receives word of the Night King and wight!Viserion. She also sees that the Golden Company arrives but not with the force she expected. Apparently they were supposed to have elephants, and they don’t? She’s angry about this, but still sleeps with Euron as payment for delivering her army. I also read somewhere that back at Winterfell, Tyrion is aware that Cersei has commissioned the GC and that she plans to use them against the North instead of as aid against the Night King. This is interesting considering Friki’s other leak involving some treachery by Tyrion later in the season.

Overall, the episode sounds compelling at least and I’m excited about Gendrya, a Jon/Arya reunion, Jonerys getting horny from riding dragons together lol, and Yara living. But Sansa still being a constant voice of opposition for Jon, and the petty Jon/Dany/Sam conflict is really unsettling to me and I’ve very tired of hearing about Randyll and Dickon Tarly. 

[empressaryastark]

old meta. 2014? for all 3 people obsessed with in series book Braavos like me.

city in progress

Braavos Post-ADWD

“Braavos was a city made for secrets, a city of fogs and masks and whispers”.

           When it comes to the ASoIaF universe, I find that most fans tend to focus most of their attention on the politics and plotlines that occur specifically in Westeros. Given that Westeros is where the series begins and will likely end, I think that inclination is natural. However, I also think it is imperceptive to ignore the future of Essos and its impact on the series after the contienent became the backdrop for many PoVs after ASoS. The view that Essos politics doesn’t matter and won’t affect the Westerosi plots is not only false, but it will limit readers that wish to make predictions for the outcome of the series. So, in an effort to raise more discussion on my favorite ASoIaF city and Essos by extension, this post is my attempt to explore the possibilities for the city in The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring while also putting my thoughts and totally definitely **slightly** cracky theories about the city into words.

While Braavos did not make a proper debut in the series until Arya arrived in AFFC, the free city has had a presence since AGoT. From Daenerys’ sentimental musings on the lost home of her childhood in her first chapter to Syrio Forel’s account of how he became the first sword of Braavos, the city has lingered in the background of the series, waiting to emerge as a power. Of course, the city always existed as a powerful state in the general ASoIaF universe, but it did not have much visible influence within the politics of Westeros until AFFC and ADWD. There are only a few cities in A Song of Ice and Fire that are given so much life, so much detail, and so much character and world significance within the series. King’s Landing, Meereen, and Braavos are those three. Like Meereen and King’s Landing, Braavos will surely have strong impacts on the rest of the series based on what happens post-ADWD and specifically in TWoW.

The Iron Bank, the Faceless Men, Braavosi Politics, Dragons, and Westeros

                              Braavos is, in many ways, the city that connects Essos and Westeros. Placed along the northern western portion of Essos, Braavos is the closest free city to Westeros. As a result, Braavos does a good deal of trade with Westeros and they possess more political clout with the continent than most other cities in Essos. Commerce between the Iron Throne and the Iron Bank has a long history that goes back to the days of Targaryen rule. Yet, this long relationship has not made the Iron Bank any more forgiving of the Iron Throne’s debt problems since, as the Braavosi say, the Iron Bank will have its due. Cersei refuses to pay up on the crowns debts and rudely sends off the Iron Bank envoy sent to her in AFFC. These decisions are what led to the schism in relations between the Iron Bank and Lannister-Baratheon crown. However, the clash was long coming since even Tyrion turned the bank away when they first came hounding after their money in ACoK. The continued respect and refusal to make payments were catastrophically bad decisions made by those in power in King’s Landing. In contrast to this behavior, The World of Ice and Fire states that Iron Bank envoys are traditionally treated with great respect as almost equals by even kings. Thus, the War of the Five Kings, the legacy of Robert’s massive debts, and Lannister greed and pride ultimately forced the Braavosi banking institution to become an unlikely ally for Stannis Baratheon and the Night’s Watch. The soured relations between the Iron Bank and the Iron Throne is unexpected turn of luck for Stannis Baratheon. Stannis’ hard up kingdom and quest for the Iron Throne suddenly gets bank rolled by the wealthiest, most ruthless group of loan sharks in the world. Of course this contract literally written in Stannis’ blood is a gamble, but it’s one that may work in his favor. As Jon Snow notes, “When princes failed to repay the Iron Bank, new princes sprang up from nowhere and took their thrones.” By all accounts, the Iron Bank is not only the wealthiest bank in that universe, but it is also the most powerful. With the loss of this powerful ally, the Lannisters have severely weakened their already tenuous hold on the Iron Throne. This choice by the Iron Bank is a calculated strike against the Lannisters, as is their decision to call in every loan in Westeros. More ominously, the Iron Bank is rumored to send assassins, presumably the Faceless Men, after their debtors according to TWoIaF. Of course, that does not necessarily mean that the Iron Bank will employ assassins to kill Tommen or Cersei. So far as the readers know, they have only decided to go with backing Stannis’ claim by funding his war efforts in addition to setting up an economic conflict as the result of their loan ban. Certainly, the loan ban has been effective in the wake of Aegon Targaryen’s arrival. The Iron Throne on the orders of Kevan and Cersei, in fear of the rebellions that may be incited by raising taxes, send Harys Swyft to the city as an envoy to mend relations with the bank and bring money back to the city. Though the outcome of this decision has yet to come, I think “Mercy” hints at future conflict between the Iron Throne’s representative and the Iron Bank. The question that remains is where the Iron Bank will place their bets if Stannis Baratheon is dead as he is reported to be by the end of ADWD. Now, I personally don’t have a definitive opinion on whether Stannis is or isn’t dead. But for the sake of theorizing on the Iron Bank and their political maneuvers in Westeros, I will assume that he is dead or soon to be dead. In those cases, I imagine the bank will take up the causes of Daenerys Targaryen or Aegon Targaryen.

                              However, the Iron Bank is not the only powerful, secretive institution of Braavos. The Faceless Men, rumored partners in crime with the Iron Bank, seem to be an essential part of Braavosi culture. Indeed, the House of Black and White exists openly in Braavos, and all the Braavosi who have been met with “valar morghulis” usually respond immediately with “valar dohaeris.” In Braavos, the slave past of Old Valyria remain a vivid part of the city’s cultural conscious. This cultural inheritance informs their respect and fear of the Faceless Men (FM), an order with their origins in the slave mines of Old Valyria. Even though the order of the FM is a mystery to most of the world outside of Braavos according to The World of Ice and Fire, readers have received portions of their origins and practices from Arya’s PoV. But given Arya’s status as a guest, and eventual acolyte, in the institution, I think it is safe to assume that Arya has not been fully informed of all the order’s inner workings. At least, she seems distant from the proceedings that take place among the full FM in the HoBaW in ADWD. Although she is still low ranking in the FM’s hierarchy, Arya has gathered a good deal of knowledge about the order so far. But I there is far more to learn about the FM in the next novels, specifically the nature of their relationship with the Iron Bank, the Sealord of Braavos, and dragons.

                              One shouldn’t forget general politics apart from the Iron Bank when taking the city into consideration. So far, the series has yet to produce a Braavosi politician that is actually active in the story. This makes sense considering the fact that Arya has been our eyes in Braavos. Seeing as she’s only assumed the identities of young girls low on the social hierarchy of Braavos, Arya has yet to see many prestigious parts of that city including both the Iron Bank and the Sealord’s Palace. Despite those limitations, Arya has been privy to some of Braavos’ politics. During her time as Cat of the Canals and Blind Beth, Arya was asked to return to the House of Black and White with the demand that she tell the Kindly Man three things she learned. Though some of what she learned was seemingly inconsequential, there are some standout details about the political climate of the city. One example can be found in ADWD when Arya tells the Kindly Man that the current Sealord of Braavos, Ferrago Antaryon, is ill to the point of death and his expected successor is Tormo Fregar. The Kindly Man responds by telling Arya that her piece of news was not new information and a new sealord will be chosen if Antaryon dies. In response, Arya thinks, “When he is dead, there will be a choosing, and the knives will come out. That was the way of it in Braavos. In Westeros, a dead king was followed by his eldest son, but the Braavosi had no kings.” With this plot point, GRRM introduces the prospect of an upcoming election for a new Sealord of Braavos. However, there is little information on how the process takes place. In The World of Ice and Fire, it is stated that the Sealord of Braavos is “chosen by the city’s magisters and keyholders from amongst the citizenry by a process as convoluted as it is arcane.” I have a hunch that the limited information about the sealord election process is an intentional omission on GRRM’s part by using the excuse of mystery. My assumption is only furthered by the fact that GRRM uses this excuse to provide very little information on the Faceless Men in the Braavos section of TWoIaF as well. Although the exact details of the election process are currently shrouded in mystery and complication, it can be understood from Arya’s thoughts that the election of a new sealord is known to bring considerable tension and danger to the city’s political climate. Moreover, the politics of the series are becoming more visible figures in Arya’s PoV. In “Mercy,” there were a total of five keyholders present for the performance of The Bloody Hand. While all that information may seem unimportant in a casual reading, I think that the steady and subtle inclusion of the city’s political developments is intentionally done by GRRM in order bring the politics of Essos and Westeros to a convergence.

                              Post-ASoS, the land of Essos was no longer restricted to Daenerys’ PoV. Tyrion Lannister, Arya Stark, Victarion Greyjoy, Quentyn Martell, Barristan Selmy, Samwell Tarly, and Jon Connington all spend some, if not most of their PoVs chapters in the continent for various reasons that have some effect on the politics of Essos and Westeros.

To briefly (edit: I looked over my list and my eyes determined that this was a lie lol) go over the causes and effects of these eastern excursions, I’ll make a short list since I’m mainly concerned with Braavos in this post.

·         Tyrion’s escape at the end of ASoS leads to Cersei’s rise to power and all the political fiascos that follow. The fact that Varys is forced to hide him on a death threat from Jaime also sends Varys into hiding while shipping Tyrion off to Essos where becomes entangled in the plot to put Daenerys to Aegon Targaryen, the alleged son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, on the Iron Throne. His involvement is cut short by an ill-timed trip to a brothel where he is abducted by the exiled knight, Jorah Mormont. After many more misfortunes, the two are sold into slavery. With exceptional cunning and good luck, Tyrion and his friends are able to escape the confines of their dead slave master’s camp and land spots in Ben Plumm’s mercenary company, the Second Sons. As of TWoW’s released chapters, Tyrion is attempting to not only survivie the battle of Meereen, but bring forth a victory for Daenerys’ cause. It has been hinted by show and GRRM that Tyrion and Daenerys will join forces in some fashion.

·         By the end of AFFC, Victarion Greyojy is sent by his brother, Euron, on a mission to bring Daenerys from Meereen so she can marry Euron and help him conquer Westeros. Victarion accepts the mission, but he intends to marry Daenerys himself and steal the throne from his brother. This mission is resumed by the end of ADWD where Victarion becomes involved with a red priest named Moqorro. He is involved in the battle of Meereen.

·         Barristan came to Essos storyline before the other Westerosi PoVs aside from Dany. His goal was to get Dany back to her throne in Westeros, but he ultimately has to hold together her crumbling occupation of Meereen in her absence. He’s involved in the battle of Meereen. He makes an agreement with the Tattered Prince to take over Pentos.

·         Quentyn Martell, with a little help from his friends, journeys his way to Daenerys on the orders of his father so that they can fulfill a marriage contract (more on that contract…) and conquer Westeros together. Quentyn fails to convince Dany, tries to steal her dragons, and is burned to death. This death will likely have negative impacts on Dornish/Targaryen relations if Arianne’s feelings in her TWoW sample chapter are any indication.

·         Samwell Tarly made a brief stop in Braavos on his way to the Citadel. During his time there and on the ocean with Maester Aemon, he learns of Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons, the prince that was promised prophecy, and meets Quhuru Mo. Mo takes him to Oldtown, where is able to inform Maester Marwyn about all he’s learned. Maester Marwyn is determined to get to Daenerys before other parts of the Citadel can influence her.

·         Jon Connington, the exiled lord of Griffin’s Roost, spent time with the Golden Company before he was enlisted by Varys and Illyrio to be Aegon’s guardian. He returned to Westeros with Aegon and their host by the end of ADWD. By Arianne’s TWoW chapter, Jon has contacted the Dornish with the intentions of creating an alliance by confirming Aegon as Doran’s nephew.

                              In all of these plotlines, the east and west cross paths in order to create some shift in the politics of the regions whether they intend to or not. Specifically, each storyline is influenced in some way by Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. Yet, the one major PoV taking place in Essos has not made a firm connection with Daenerys and her dragons. So far, Arya Stark’s PoV and the city of Braavos have been conspicuously absent of any influence from Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. This is contrast to other major Essos spots like Pentos, Volantis, and Slavery’s Bay. Considering Daenerys’ substantial following and notoriety or widespread esteem depending on who one asks in Essos, it should follow that her reputation would be a special topic in Braavos, the city built on slave rebellion. In fact, Daenerys’ reputation has even reached Westeros as evident by the mummer’s plays in King’s Landing and the word of Dany and her dragons in the Citadel from the prologue. With all those points in mind, I feel like it is suspicious that she’s not a bigger topic in the city of Braavos. Of course, Arya has heard a few mentions of the dragons while in Braavos, but they were brief.

 Here’s where I go into Speculation Mode:

                              I think that the absence of Daenerys’ influence in Braavos is going to be short-lived. Sooner than later, Daenerys will have to go back if she wants to move forward if I may loosely use Quaithe’s words. And if Daenerys should go in a reverse of her journey to move forward to her destiny, that means she will have to arrive at her first home in Essos before she lands on Westerosi land. That home is Braavos. Now, I am aware of theories that Daenerys has confused the location of her childhood home with Willem Darry based on the trees quote in “Mercy.” However, I do not believe that she is confused about her early in Braavos. Yes, the presence of lemon trees in Braavosi is strange, but it’s no stranger than the rest of all that is fantastic in A Song of Ice and Fire. If Sealord’s Palace can support tree life in official maps of the city, I’d wager to say that a wealthy man like Willem Darry could afford a luxury garden. Also, I think the marriage pact made by Oberyn and Willem in Braavos, and witnessed by the Sealord of Braavos, tends to give credence to Dany’s assertion that she and Viserys lived with Darry in Braavos. Now, there is much that is suspicious about the pact. Namely, why would the Sealord of Braavos get involved with a pact between House Martell and House Targaryen after Robert Baratheon took the throne? Did they wish to seek favor with the Targaryens and the Martells? Was this Sealord the current Sealord or a predecessor? Given what little information is supplied about the inner workings of Braavos’ politics, it’s anyone’s guesses on these questions. Indeed, they may remain unanswered if Ferrago Antaryon dies soon as expected and Tormo Fregar takes his office. Once he takes office, an event apparently already anticipated by the common people of Braavos, the most likely turn of events include Fregar taking a stance on Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons. Braavos is a wealthy city known for hard anti-slavery policies in addition to possessing an extraordinarily impressive and powerful naval military. I find it hard to believe that Daenerys and Tyrion (two characters who have expressed desires to see the city) won’t find the city a considerable ally, by choice or force on the city’s part.

                              And what does the future of the city hold for Arya Stark? As I said, there’s far more to learn. Arya’s only ventured around the outskirts of the city, homes to tourists and the poor. Eventually, she will have to break out of her usual haunts and explore the parts of the city that she was almost destined to discover---the Iron Bank, the Sealord’s Palace, and the Moon Pool. So far, Arya is the only major PoV residing in Braavos. While others may speculate on her TWoW arc taking her to other places, I am firm in my belief that she will remain in the city. As a disciple of Syrio Forel, Arya is probably going to be lured to the Moon Pool and the Sealord’s Palace based on Syrio’s tale of the Sealord’s Palace and the prospect of water dancing in the famous, magical Moon Pool seems like it would be too good for Arya to pass up. Since the Iron Bank is apparently so connected to the Faceless Men, I think the chances of her getting involved with the institution in some fashion are high. The fact that she’s carrying around an iron key in “Mercy” for no discernable reason is a hint that she’s either been given or stolen a key from the powerful keyholders of Braavos aka Iron Bank officials.

           I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the keyholders, the sealord, election voting areas, the iron bank, and the iron key are all mentioned in “Mercy.” Those inclusions are all a set up for the rest of the Braavosi narrative that will be tied with Arya’s PoV. How one will affect the other remains to be seen, but they will impact other characters and how the rest of the series turns out. So far, Arya’s actions will likely cause further strife between King’s Landing and the Iron Bank.  She could also meddle with the Justin Massey’s Iron Bank envoy on behalf of Stannis Baratheon, the upcoming Sealord election, the Hardhome refugees, or the Faceless Men’s objectives. On that note, I do wonder how the Faceless Men will impact the story. If Jaqen is working on behalf of the group at the Citadel, what is his end goal? To destroy the dragons? To the control the dragons? To destroy the means of destroying dragons? The answer to the Jaqen question is uncertain at the moment, but seeing as the Faceless Men don’t take kindly to dragons as legacies of their slave past, I don’t think they want the dragons to live.  The desires of the Faceless Men could put them at odds or in unity with how the Iron Bank and the Sealord’s Palace wishes to deal with their future of their city and how they deal with the dragons and Westeros.

           After hundreds of years in solitude, I can’t imagine how the major institutions of Braavos are not tied with each other. The survival of the city relied on building a community of trust within the shroud of secrecy. But what happens to the city once crisis falls when the world of the series realizes the apocalyptic peril from the beyond the Wall? The Faceless Men are an order with their own god and set of doctrine to follow, the Iron Bank is an absolutely ruthless institution, and the Braavosi government is one of volatile politics. These institutions can easily conflict with each other once the world’s dangers present themselves. And from there they may act on their own intentions. Eventually the city and especially the major characters involved will have to follow in that Braavosi tradition of unmasking secrets.

[julibf]

ARYA AS A QUEEN ...... PART 2

( Artwork by John Picacio) I talked a little about my theory that both Stark girls will end this story as Queens here (X) And in my last post I tried to show a little bit how much foreshadowing exist about the idea of Arya being a Queen. So this meta wil be a continuation of my first post. 

I believe that Arya entire story arc, especially in the first books was written with the idea that she will lead people in the end of this story. This is going to be long.....................................................................

 SHE HAS GREAT INSTINCTS FOR TRUSTING PEOPLE:

 Not only she was suspicious of Cersei and Joffrey from the beginning of this story she also knew it that she could trust Gendry with the information about her real identity, even if Yoren advised her against it. Arya has always demonstrated that she has sharp instintics when it comes to know who she should trust or not.

 "I hate them," Arya confided, red-faced, sniffling. "The Hound and the queen and the king and Prince Joffrey. I hate all of them.”

 A Game of Thrones - Arya II

Arya bit her lip. She remembered what Yoren had said, the day he had hacked off her hair. This lot, half o' them would turn you over to the queen quick as spit for a pardon and maybe a few silvers. The other half'd do the same, only they'd rape you first. Only Gendry was different, the queen wanted him too. "I'll tell you if you'll tell me," she said warily.

"I would if I knew, Arry . . . is that really what you're called, or do you have some girl's name?"

Arya glared at the gnarled root by her feet. She realized that the pretense was done. Gendry knew, and she had nothing in her pants to convince him otherwise. She could draw Needle and kill him where he stood, or else trust him. She wasn't certain she'd be able to kill him, even if she tried; he had his own sword, and he was a lot stronger. All that was left was the truth. "Lommy and Hot Pie can't know," she said.

"They won't," he swore. "Not from me."

"Arya." She raised her eyes to his. "My name is Arya. Of House Stark."

"Of House . . ." It took him a moment before he said, "The King's Hand was named Stark. The one they killed for a traitor."

A Clash of Kings - Arya V

SHE CARES ABOUT HER PEOPLE AND THOSE WHO FOLLOW HER AND REFUSES TO LEAVE THEM BEHIND:

 As I was reading Arya’s chapters in the first books its quite strong the bond she has with those around her. She sees them as her pack and cant leave them behind, even when her own safety its a risk. You can see why her friends would become loyal to her and follow her lead in the future. 

 Quick as that he was gone, off to fight, sword in hand. Arya grabbed Gendry by the arm. "He said go," she shouted, "the barn, the way out." Through the slits of his helm, the Bull's eyes shone with reflected fire. He nodded. They called Hot Pie down from the wall and found Lommy Greenhands where he lay bleeding from a spear thrust through his calf. They found Gerren too, but he was hurt too bad to move. As they were running toward the barn, Arya spied the crying girl sitting in the middle of the chaos, surrounded by smoke and slaughter. She grabbed her by the hand and pulled her to her feet as the others raced ahead. The girl wouldn't walk, even when slapped. Arya dragged her with her right hand while she held Needle in the left. Ahead, the night was a sullen red. The barn's on fire, she thought. Flames were licking up its sides from where a torch had fallen on straw, and she could hear the screaming of the animals trapped within. Hot Pie stepped out of the barn. "Arry, come on! Lommy's gone, leave her if she won't come!"

Stubbornly, Arya dragged all the harder, pulling the crying girl along. Hot Pie scuttled back inside, abandoning them . . . but Gendry came back, the fire shining

A Clash of Kings - Arya IV

  “When they finally summoned the nerve to steal back into the ruins the next night, nothing remained but blackened stones, the hollow shells of houses, and corpses. In some places wisps of pale smoke still rose from the ashes. Hot Pie had pleaded with them not to go back, and Lommy called them fools and swore that Ser Amory would catch them and kill them too, but Lorch and his men had long gone by the time they reached the holdfast. They found the gates broken down, the walls partly demolished, and the inside strewn with the unburied dead. One look was enough for Gendry. "They're killed, every one," he said. "And dogs have been at them too, look."

"Dogs, wolves, it makes no matter. It's done here."

But Arya would not leave until they found Yoren. They couldn't have killed him, she told herself, he was too hard and tough, and a brother of the Night's Watch besides. She said as much to Gendry as they searched among the corpses.

A Clash of Kings - Arya V

 "He's going to die, and the sooner he does it, the better for the rest of us. We should just leave him, like he says. If it was you or me hurt, you know he'd leave us." They scrambled down a steep cut and up the other side, using roots for handholds. "I'm sick of carrying him, and I'm sick of all his talk about yielding too. If he could stand up, I'd knock his teeth in. Lommy's no use to anyone. That crying girl's no use either."

 "You leave Weasel alone, she's just scared and hungry is all." Arya glanced back, but the girl was not following for once. Hot Pie must have grabbed her, like Gendry had told him.

"She's no use," Gendry repeated stubbornly. "Her and Hot Pie and Lommy, they're slowing us down, and they're going to get us killed.

 A Clash of Kings - Arya V

 ……….

The guards shoved Gendry inside with the boy and barred the doors behind them. Just then, a breath of wind came sighing off the lake, and the banners stirred and lifted. The one on the tall staff bore the golden lion, as she'd feared. On the other, three sleek black shapes ran across a field as yellow as butter. Dogs, she thought. Arya had seen those dogs before, but where?

It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that they had Gendry. Even if he was stubborn and stupid, she had to get him out.

A Clash of Kings - Arya V

 She would make much better time on her own, Arya knew, but she could not leave them. They were her pack, her friends, the only living friends that remained to her, and if not for her they would still be safe at Harrenhal, Gendry sweating at his forge and Hot Pie in the kitchens. If the Mummers catch us, I'll tell them that I'm Ned Stark's daughter and sister to the King in the North. I'll command them to take me to my brother, and to do no harm to Hot Pie and Gendry. They might not believe her, though, and even if they did . . . Lord Bolton was her brother's bannerman, but he frightened her all the same. I won't let them take us, she vowed silently, reaching back over her shoulder to touch the hilt of the sword that Gendry had stolen for her. I won't.

A Storm of Swords - Arya I

   COMMAND COMES NATURALLY TO HER

Even at a very young age, its Arya who is shouting the orders while escaping Kings Landing. Its Arya who tells the other boys what to do; Its Arya

 "All the time, with no one else to help? We'll never do it. Gendry was the strong one. Anyhow, I don't care what you say, I'm going back for him." She looked at Hot Pie. "Are you coming?"

Hot Pie glanced at Lommy, at Arya, at Lommy again. "I'll come," he said reluctantly.

"Lommy, you keep Weasel here."

He grabbed the little girl by the hand and pulled her close. "What if the wolves come?"

"Yield," Arya suggested.

A Clash of Kings - Arya V

  Its Arya, who plans and orchestrates hers, Gendry and Hot Pie escape from Harrenhall.

  “At the forge she found the fires extinguished and the doors closed and barred. She crept in a window, as she had once before. Gendry shared a mattress with two other apprentice smiths. She crouched in the loft for a long time before her eyes adjusted enough for her to be sure that he was the one on the end. Then she put a hand over his mouth and pinched him. His eyes opened. He could not have been very deeply asleep. "Please," she whispered. She took her hand off his mouth and pointed.

For a moment she did not think he understood, but then he slid out from under the blankets. Naked, he padded across the room, shrugged into a loose roughspun tunic, and climbed down from the loft after her. The other sleepers did not stir. "What do you want now?" Gendry said in a low angry voice.

"A sword."

"Blackthumb keeps all the blades locked up, I told you that a hundred times. Is this for Lord Leech?"

"For me. Break the lock with your hammer."

“They’ll break my hand,” he grumbled. “Or worse.”

“Not if you run off with me.”

“Run, and they’ll catch you and kill you.”

“They’ll do you worse. Lord Bolton is giving Harrenhal to the Bloody Mummers, he told me so.”

_Gendry pushed black hair out of his eyes._ “So?”

She looked right at him, fearless. “So when Vargo Hoat’s the lord, he’s going to cut off the feet of all the servants to keep them from running away. The smiths too.”

“That’s only a story,” he said scornfully.

“No, it’s true, I heard Lord Vargo say so,” she lied. “He’s going to cut one foot off everyone. The left one. Go to the kitchens and wake Hot Pie, he’ll do what you say. We’ll need bread or oakcakes or something. You get the swords and I’ll do the horses. We’ll meet near the postern in the east wall, behind the Tower of Ghosts. No one ever comes there.”

“I know that gate. It’s guarded, same as the rest.”

“So? You won’t forget the swords?”

“I never said I’d come.”

“No. But if you do, you won’t forget the swords?”

He frowned. “No,” he said at last. “I guess I won’t.”

 A Clash of Kings - Arya X

Its Arya who is guiding the boys in their escape from Harrenhall …..

"Do you know where we're going?" Gendry asked her.

"North," said Arya.

Hot Pie peered around uncertainly. "Which way is north?"

She used her cheese to point. "That way."

"But there's no sun. How do you know?"

"From the moss. See how it grows mostly on one side of the trees? That's south."

"What do we want with the north?" Gendry wanted to know.

"The Trident." Arya unrolled the stolen map to show them. "See? Once we reach the Trident, all we need to do is follow it upstream till we come to Riverrun, here." Her finger traced the path. "It's a long way, but we can't get lost so long as we keep to the river."

Hot Pie blinked at the map. "Which one is Riverrun?"

Riverrun was painted as a castle tower, in the fork between the flowing blue lines of two rivers, the Tumblestone and the Red Fork. "There." She touched it. "Riverrun, it reads."

"You can read writing?" he said to her, wonderingly, as if she'd said she could walk on water.

She nodded. "We'll be safe once we reach Riverrun."

"We will? Why?"

Because Riverrun is my grandfather's castle, and my brother Robb will be there, she wanted to say. She bit her lip and rolled up the map. "We just will. But only if we get there." She was the first one back in the saddle. It made her feel bad to hide the truth from Hot Pie, but she did not trust him with her secret. Gendry knew, but that was different. Gendry had his own secret, though even he didn't seem to know what it was.

A Storm of Swords - Arya I

SHE WITNESSE WITH HER OWN EYES HOW MUCH WAR HURTS THE COMMON PEOPLE

 Their captors permitted no chatter. A broken lip taught Arya to hold her tongue. Others never learned at all. One boy of three would not stop calling for his father, so they smashed his face in with a spiked mace. Then the boy's mother started screaming and Raff the Sweetling killed her as well.

 ……..

 Besides his captives, Ser Gregor was bringing back a dozen pigs, a cage of chickens, a scrawny milk cow, and nine wagons of salt fish. The Mountain and his men had horses, but the captives were all afoot, and those too weak to keep up were killed out of hand, along with anyone foolish enough to flee. The guards took women off into the bushes at night, and most seemed to expect it and went along meekly enough. One girl, prettier than the others, was made to go with four or five different men every night, until finally she hit one with a rock. Ser Gregor made everyone watch while he took off her head with a sweep of his massive two-handed greatsword. "Leave the body for the wolves," he commanded when the deed was done, handing the sword to his squire to be cleaned.

 A Clash of Kings - Arya VI

In A FEAST FOR CROWS, Arya will finally arrive in Braavos to start her training as a Faceless Man at the House of Black and White. I believe this part of her storyline was necessary because it will be in Braavos that Arya will learn how to be a warrior and in the end of the day, Westerosis armies will only follow warriors, so it was very important for Arya to experience this part of her journey.

Her journey in the House of Black and White is also a big foreshadowing as her role as a leader in the end. First as Cat of the Canals, she is forced to serve (which is a constant theme in George RRMartin story, he always makes sure, his future leaders spend part of their storyline serving, we will find the same theme on Jon, Sansa and Theon storyline.

"You lie. You are Cat of the canals, I know you well. Go and sleep, child. On the morrow you must serve.""All men must serve." And so she did, three days of every thirty. When the moon was black she was no one, a servant of the Many-Faced God in a robe of black and white. She walked beside the kindly man through the fragrant darkness, carrying her iron lantern. She washed the dead, went through their clothes, and counted out their coins. Some days she still helped Umma cook, chopping big white mushrooms and boning fish. But only when the moon was black. The rest of the time she was an orphan girl in a pair of battered boots too big for her feet and a brown cloak with a ragged hem, crying "Mussels and cockles and clams" as she wheeled her barrow through the Ragman's Harbor.

A Feast for Crows - Cat Of The Canals

 As part of her training, she is being educated in the lessosn of poisons and how to play the game of lies, which its going to be very useful once she returns to Westeros and starts her revenge game.

That was her first lesson. There had been many more.

Poisons and potions were for the afternoons. She had smell and touch and taste to help her, but touch and taste could be perilous when grinding poisons, and with some of the waif's more toxic concoctions even smell was less than safe. Burned pinky tips and blistered lips became familiar to her, and once she made herself so sick she could not keep down any food for days. 

Supper was for language lessons. The blind girl understood Braavosi and could speak it passably, she had even lost most of her barbaric accent, but the kindly man was not content. He was insisting that she improve her High Valyrian and learn the tongues of Lys and Pentos too. 

In the evening she played the lying game with the waif, but without eyes to see the game was very different. Sometimes all she had to go on was tone and choice of words; other times the waif allowed her to lay hands upon her face. At first the game was much, much harder, the next thing to impossible … but just when she was near the point of screaming with frustration, it all became much easier. She learned to hear the lies, to feel them in the play of the muscles around the mouth and eyes.

A Dance with Dragons - The Blind Girl

She is learning on how to use her others senses and not depend only on her eyes, which is very important as a fighter.

Many of her other duties had remained the same, but as she went about them she stumbled over furnishings, walked into walls, dropped trays, got hopelessly helplessly lost inside the temple. Once she almost fell headlong down the steps, but Syrio Forel had taught her balance in another lifetime, when she was the girl called Arya, and somehow she recovered and caught herself in time.

Some nights she might have cried herself to sleep if she had still been Arry or Weasel or Cat, or even Arya of House Stark … but no one had no tears. Withouteyes, even the simplest task was perilous. She burned herself a dozen times as she worked with Umma in the kitchens. Once, chopping onions, she cut herfinger down to the bone. Twice she could not even find her own room in the cellar and had to sleep on the floor at the base of the steps. 

All the nooks and alcoves made the temple treacherous, even after the blind girl had learned to use her ears; the way her footsteps bounced off the ceiling and echoed roundthe legs of the thirty tall stone gods made the walls themselves seem to move, and the pool of still black water did strange things to sound as well.

A Dance with Dragons - The Blind Girl

So, yes. I believe Arya storyline in the books is a hint that she end this story as a queen.  Its no secret to anyone that I believe Sansa will marry her cousin Jon Snow and both of them will rule the 7 kingdoms as King and Queen, so how does Queen Arya works then?

I believe The North will accept to a union to the rest of the Kingdom via marriage, mirroring what happened to Dorne in the past. There is foreshadowing of the North refusing to bend the knee in the end and joining the Union using a marriage alliance in the books:

 "MY LORDS!" he shouted, his voice booming off the rafters. "Here is what I say to these two kings!" He spat. "Renly Baratheon is nothing to me, nor Stannis neither. Why should they rule over me and mine, from some flowery seat in Highgarden or Dorne? What do they know of the Wall or the wolfswood or the barrows of the First Men? Even their gods are wrong. The Others take the Lannisters too, I've had a bellyful of them." He reached back over his shoulder and drew his immense two-handed greatsword. "Why shouldn't we rule ourselves again? It was the dragons we married, and the dragons are all dead!" He pointed at Robb with the blade. "There sits the only king I mean to bow my knee to, m'lords," he thundered. "The King in the North!"

A GAME OF THRONES Catelyn XI

 Funny how Jon Snow fits Lord Greatjon  Umber description of a good King for the North. Jon was Lord Commander of the Nights Watch, he knows about the Wolfswood and follows the Old Gods. So, I predict the North would accept a union as long as Jon married a Stark, which would be Sansa. And just like Dorne was able to keep some independence, the North would also keep the right to call their heirs as Kings and Queens in the North.

  This would parallel what happened when Scotland decided that they no longer wanted to be part of the English Kingdom and rebelled against the crown, starting The Wars of Scottish Independence, were a series of military campaigns were fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

The conflicts came to and end with the The Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton and a few years later, the Treaty of Berwick (1357). Scotland became an independent country, with its own King and ruler, yet still part of the Great Britain Kingdom. 

And I want to point out this cute foreshadowing that @sherlokiness posted on my last meta about this theory.

Her sister was a queen, why not her?

A Dance with Dragons - Jon XIII

YES, why not Arya too???

[waterlilyvioletfog]

Why Reading ASOIAF Made Me Dislike Game of Thrones- An Open Letter to David Benioff and D. B. Weiss

Hey dudes. Your show sucks. 

Since October, 2016, when I decided to start watching Game of Thrones, I have been slowly reading the book series you are adapting it from: George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, which is a fantasy series that sets out to examine the genre of fantasy itself, humanity, morality, ethics, climate change, and our collective reality through the lens of morally grey, intelligent characters, living in a medieval fantasy world fifteen years after a two year long civil war called Robert’s Rebellion rocked the core of the continent/country of Westeros, some of whom are self-aware, some of whom are really, really not. 

There. That’s the spoiler-free series summary.  

It didn’t occur to me while I was reading book one, it niggled in the back of my head while I was reading book two, but it stuck with me while I was reading book three, A Storm of Swords, the very simple thought that yo. 

Your show is far. Far. FAR worse than the books you set out to adapt. 

People go up to me and ask “What are you reading, Vi?” because that’s how you start a conversation with someone who doesn’t want to talk to you. I show them the book title, they see the banner at the top reading “GAME OF THRONES- A NEW ORIGINAL SERIES FROM HBO” and say, predictably, unfailingly, “Oh, Game of Thrones!” and I have to take the time to put the old, worn receipt I use as a book mark in my place to inform the uninformed, “The books are a hundred thousand times better than the show. And that’s not even me being a book snob. Read the books, don’t watch the show.” You don’t know how exhausting that is. 

You will find no shortage of people on this site who are fans of the books and/or your TV show. Many criticize you, many criticize GRRM, some unrepentantly  scream into the Void that you and/or GRRM are God, and deserving of nothing but veneration, unquestioning love, and sainthood. I have reblogged and liked posts from all three sorts of people. Never doubt that I enjoy both stories. Your television series has some really good acting, plenty of nice aesthetics, and some damn nice costumes. 

And yet, I vastly prefer the books. Reading the books, reading metas about the books, reading fanfiction about the books, reading metas about the show, and seeing the general discourse in both fandoms has all brought me to the conclusion that I prefer GRRM’s story. 

Lady Stoneheart and Young Griff are the two major storylines that you cut out in your book-to-screen adaptation, to the utter detriment of your show, and the fact that you removed them tells me a lot about what you do and do not understand about ASOIAF. 

Lady Stoneheart, the reanimated corpse of the late Catelyn Tully Stark, is a character only introduced in the epilogue of A Storm of Swords, and I can understand why, at first glance, you would think that your decision to cut out her narrative is acceptable. You murdered Catelyn’s story within her own story, after-all. You forgot that Robb is not the center of the Northern Rebellion; Catelyn is. She is the eyes and ears, and it is her mistakes that both start the war, end it, and prolong it. 

Lady Stoneheart’s story effects Brienne of Tarth’s story, and Jaime Lannister’s story, and GRRM’s examination of knighthood, honor, redemption and loyalty through them. It relates to Gendry, Sandor Clegane, and Podrick Payne, and their themes of loss of identity, as well as Sandor’s themes of redemption and mercy. LSH’s own actions work to the detriment of her daughter Sansa, and the themes of her story mirror and accentuate those of her younger daughter, Arya, whose story is about psychological trauma, justice, mercy, death, and why you should not join death cults. By cutting out Lady Stoneheart, Sansa’s story becomes that of her poor, forgotten friend, Jeyne Poole, and Arya becomes a terrorist instead of a girl struggling to find her identity and wander home. 

Lady Stoneheart, in GRRM’s broader examination of the genre of fantasy, is an examination of the trope of the reanimated dead. Catelyn is resurrected as LSH after three days of slowly decomposing in a river, her torn cheeks and slashed throat still draining blood. When Beric Dondarrion sacrifices herself to save her (yes, Beric is dead in the books) he does not bring back the loving mother who knew the name of every stablehand in Winterfell, he brings back the screaming woman who “clawed her face to bloody ribbons” when she witnesses her last living child die before her eyes. He brings back a demon, intent on bringing death to anyone she views as remotely related to those who have done her wrong. This is GRRM’s examination of why people don’t just come back from death. They are changed, they are different, they are a bit mad. LSH is a zombie, every bit as much as the wights, she’s just a zombie forged of the other end of the spectrum: fire. 

Aegon VI Targaryen, or “Young Griff” is the perfect prince. He is introduced during the fifth book, even later than Lady Stoneheart. You would think exempting him would be even more acceptable, and yet, once again, you would be wrong. 

Young Griff’s story relates to Arianne Martell, another character who is utterly cut out of the television show, as well as to the Sand Snakes and their plot with Myrcella Baratheon, who they were intending to crown as queen, not murder. Young Griff, by extension, relates to Doran Martell and poor, poor Quentyn Martell, and to Daenerys Targaryen, Ashara Dayne, Varys, Illyrio Mopatis, and, crucially, CRUCIALLY, Tyrion Lannister, who has become a background character ever since his escape from King’s Landing in Season Four. Young Griff is planning on invading Westeros using the Golden Company, which will probably effect the remainder of Arya’s stint in Braavos before she runs into Jeyne Poole and Justin Massey, and the actual invasion will greatly affect Brienne of Tarth because of where the island of Tarth is located. Brienne is her father Selwyn’s only heir, and he’s probably going to die before the end of TWOW, leaving Brienne as the Evenstar. 

In GRRM’s broader discourse, Young Griff’s role, as @poorquentyn talks about quite a bit in his metas, is to deconstruct the fantasy genre as a whole. Young Griff is the Perfect Prince in exile, Varys’s guaranteed A+ Political Science thesis project, complete with badass army, misfit mentors, sassy nun, and a hot future wife waiting for him. And yet, Young Griff is actually a tragedy because he is not Aegon VI Targaryen, he is not the Once and Future King, he is not the savior, he is not Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell’s son. Young Griff is most likely the biological son of the hedonistic pedophiliac opportunistic Illyrio Mopatis, and a kid who would have been content to sail up and down the Rhoyne with his motley crew for the rest of his life, but no, he was told that he is the only living child of Rhaegar Targaryen, the heir to the Iron Throne. GRRM uses Young Griff to explain Dany’s story and Jon’s story. Don’t you see how unsatisfying it would have been, he asks, if Jon had been Young Griff? Don’t you see how much more interesting Jon’s story is with Val and Ygritte and Sam and Gilly and Monster and Mance and Donal Noye and Satin and Craster? Don’t you see how much better fantasy can be? 

You see, my good sirs, you have missed the entire point of ASOIAF in your hit television show: what can fantasy be? 

Arya does not have to be merely the plucky tomboy, an assassin with a sad backstory who Is Not Like Other Girls. Arya can be the plucky tomboy who looks up to her mother, is jealous of her sister, and is abused by her teacher. Arya can be a girl who admires other women, who wishes she were pretty, who loves to learn languages and is good at math. She can be the girl who wargs into Nymeria and the cats of Braavos, who leaves Sandor Clegane to die because he would not let her kill herself trying to save her mother. 

Jon Snow does not have to be merely the Male Action Hero Who Will Save the Day and Get the Hot Chick. Jon can be a flawed man, too young, too brilliant, too radical, too kind to live. He can be the adopted son of a good man, he can be intelligent and still make mistakes, he can be kind and still show Gilly profound cruelty, he can be a leader and be best at leading when he is negotiating marriages and panes of glass and who works where when. He can be impartial to who sits the Iron Throne and still get himself killed for loving his baby sister too desperately. He can be a good leader, and still be killed. Jon is not important because he is Rhaegar’s son, he is not important because he is the Ice to Dany’s Fire; he is important because he is Aragorn’s Tax Plan. 

D. B. Weiss and David Benioff, your story fails in the face of the might that is ASOIAF because your story fails to be profound. Your story fails to contribute anything to The Great Struggle. Your story fails to innovate, your story fails to evolve. Your story fails to understand the core of its own characters, it fails to understand its own themes and messages. 

Your story fails because it is not a compelling story. 

I hope you are capable of understanding that. 

Best Wishes, 

A Teenage Girl Who You Can Call Vi

[lieselstark2-blog]

Gotleaker is fake. It’s an elaborate hoax, and I’m it’s victim. So are you.

@thelawyerthatwaspromised @reysbae @myrish-lace-love @wolfmaiden25 @wolfmaiden25 @tiny-little-bird 

Hello, my name is Liesel Stark and I am a Jonsa meta writer.

Or I was, but not too long ago something happened outside the fandom. Something very personal that nearly destroyed my life.

I had a roommate. We never got along, but I hoped it would remain civil and I would find a new place at the end of my lease.

However, this roommate wanted a guard dog. I didn’t want this, as I was bitten by a dog when I was a child and I’m scared of them. Pets are also not allowed in our lease. I thought that was the end of it when she brought it up, but a week later I came home and she had adopted a dog from the pound - it kind of looked like a Rottweiler, and I was scared to death.

So I informed our landlord. However, my roommate, who is the landlord’s cousin, called her and said I was lying. Our landlord came to investigate, but my roommate had taken her dog over to her friend’s house and pretended the dog didn’t exist.

I took pictures, but the roommate kept our landlord around her finger and said it was just visiting. It was all so awful.

Unfortunately, the dog was not well behaved, and while nothing ever happened, the lack of discipline and free reign the dog was given over the house meant there was fur and pee everywhere. I would come home at night from work and be greeted in the doorway by one of my worst fears.

One night I snapped and just left and slept over at my sister’s house. This would prove to be a terrible mistake.

It only took a few days and a broken lease before the landlord realized that her cousin lied. The landlord did pay for my grievance and is giving me a good reference, but she refused to kick out her cousin over a dog.

Bad, but not the point of this story.

When I left that night, my roommate went through all of my things. Like an idiot, my computer pass code is also my phone pass code, which she must have seen me tap hundreds of times whenever I unlocked my phone around the house, and she was able to get onto my computer and steal my identity.

She went through all my documents and accounts, and sent terrible things to my family and friends. I didn’t realize it at first until my parents asked why I posted that I never loved them on facebook and was cutting them out of my life that something was happening.

Everyone I ever met had been told some awful lie about me in the span of two days, and every account I had ever used was part of her campaign to ruin my life all because I didn’t want a dog for the remaining seven months of our lease!

She was always unhinged, but I never thought it would amount to this. Eventually I threatened legal action, and I thought it was over.

But I didn’t account for tumblr. I didn’t even think about it for awhile. When everything settled because I threatened legal action, I actually decided to come and log in and de-stress with fandom, but found that my tumblr was gone.

Okay, I thought. She deleted this account too.

I just kind of gave up after that. So much had happened that I figured I would cut my losses and move on with my life.

But that wasn’t the whole of it. Because my former roommate is a fucking psychopath.

I’m not ashamed of the fact that I ship Jonsa (it’s fiction), but she must have seen a possible opportunity to hurt me and took all the metas I wrote, the drafts in my account and computer, and the outline of a fan fiction I was writing to create an elaborate hoax in which she was planning to “out” me.

Seriously. What the hell.

I found out because I still browse the Jonsa tag on tumblr and saw mention of some new leaks, so I checked them out. They were suspiciously close to my metas and fan fiction outline, but when I saw the ending of episode two, I knew that it was one of her plots.

She must have been planning this for some time, and I don’t know exactly where she’s going with it, but if the past if anything to go by she plans to dox me and falsely incriminate me for something.

This is just ridiculous.

To prove that I am being framed, an outline to my fan fiction is included below. I expect @gotleaker to blow a gasket soon.

Now, I want to apologize to anyone who has been mislead by this maniac and to please stop believing her because she’s plotting against me simply because she’s upset she couldn’t get her way.

Please tag and reblog this so she’s discredited.

And FUCK you Kelsey.

A Time for Wolves

Episode 1 – Bat

Chapter 1

Daenerys and Jon arrive in Winterfell.

Chapter 2

Euron makes an agreement with the Golden Company to betray Cersei.

Chapter 3

Sansa is anxious over the prospect of Jon and Daenerys marrying for reasons she can’t describe, and is upset to learn from Tyrion that it appears to be happening.

Chapter 4

Jon is adamant that he will do what is necessary to protect the North and his family. However, Sansa doesn’t agree, because she feels the tension in the North better than he does.

Chapter 5

Although initially welcoming of Daenerys, their relationship sours over disagreements largely of Sansa’s making (due to her fears of losing Jon and the North).

Episode 2 – Eel

Chapter 6

Euron betrays Cersei, and in response to the Red Keep being overrun, she uses the wildfire, destroying the city and killing hundreds of thousands of people. She miscarries in the process.

Chapter 7

A settlement nearby is attacked (possibly the Dreadfort so they can reuse some of the sets and it make sense, considering their possible path), forcing Jon and Daenerys to prepare to depart. Sansa and Jon have a tender moment despite their current disagreement, and I think Tyrion is witness to sparks flying he didn’t see with Jon and Daenerys, causing his suspicions to be raised.

Chapter 8

Jon ends up showing these feelings because he has been informed by Sam and Bran about his parentage, and it’s eating him alive for so many reasons. Unfortunately, he hasn’t told Sansa and Arya yet, because he isn’t sure he wants to accept and go public with his parentage due to the political ramifications.

Chapter 9

However, the Dreadfort is lost (and destroyed), and the forces of the North are dealt a devastating blow. They return to Winterfell, licking their wounds, unaware that they accidentally are leading the Night King on path to Winterfell.

Chapter 10

Mid to the end of the episode, Jaime arrives and informs Daenerys that Cersei has betrayed them after a lost battle against the White Walkers. Daenerys, furious, rides off to take King’s Landing using Drogon as a threat in order to secure their manpower for the upcoming battle. She leaves Rhaegal to protect the North after a frustrating conversation with Jon who pleads with her not to leave because she is abandoning her people.

Chapter 11

Jon is frustrated by this, and isn’t too happy about Sansa’s smugness and seemingly glee (think about: Daenerys is gone, and also going to kill Cersei. That’s a win for her), but his anger is due to the fact he fears he cannot protect the North or Sansa, without Daenerys since he cannot control dragons. Bran offers to help. He also makes more cryptic comments to Sansa. I think Bran’s vision about her wedding may be of the future to Jon, like previous metas have stated, and Bran is starting to see dreams of spring and hoping to make them happen.

Chapter 12

Daenerys’s actions are not well received by anyone in the North, and when Daenerys leaves, all hell breaks loose politically. The Northerners fear that Daenerys will be a dictator like the Targaryens before her, reminding Jon of Torrhen and his uncle and grandfather’s deaths under the Mad King. This only further cements his desire to control Rhaegal. Episode 3 – Ghost

Chapter 13

The surviving Greyjoy siblings take an imprisoned Cersei Lannister North, narrowly missing Daenerys as she arrives to the destroyed King’s Landing. Since they go by ship and are one of the few survivors, the true perpetrator of King’s Landing fall is mistaken to be Daenerys when people outside the city arrive.

Chapter 14

They end up penning a raven that is received at Winterfell that blames Daenerys for the destruction. Her army leaves, no longer feeling welcomed, though Tyrion and Varys stay.

Chapter 15

Sansa is no longer so smug. She’s scared, and so is Jon and everyone else. Jon confers with Tyrion, who, knowing about the wildfire, erroneously believes it to be true not because Daenerys purposefully set the entire city on fire... but because Drogon was the spark that caused the wildfire to get out of control. Either way, Tyrion admits to losing faith, and switches support to Jon.

Chapter 16

But Jon sees his power waning, and now Sansa’s political power is on the rise. Tyrion sees an opportunity, but he is conflicted because he is starting to form feelngs for Sansa now and he believes Jon and Sansa are siblings. But he’s certain they have feelings for each other now, because Jon and Sansa are caught kissing after he gives her a blue rose and between all this hyper jealously as Tyrion spies and insinuates himself in Sansa’s company, fearing that Jon, Bran, and Sam are keeping something from him and hoping to use Sansa to figure it out (unaware she knows how the game works).

Chapter 17

But basically, political shit happens following this, and Jon tames Rhaegal. He then “comes clean” to the North. He initially thinks he will give up his claim to Sansa, but to his surprise he is hailed as King in the North and South.

Episode 4 – Owl

Chapter 18

Daenerys is trying to convince the people around King’s Landing of her worth, but news of Jon being a Targaryen reaches her. Remember in Daenerys’s vision that the first prominent image we see of the throne room is not the throne, but the Winter Rose on stained glass - a reminder of Starks and shade thrown at Daenerys that she doesn’t have Jon’s affections.  Daenerys decides to leave and head back to the North, and he meet her army in the Neck.

Chapter 19

But back in the North, it’s discovered the White Walkers are moving towards Winterfell just as Daenerys has departed for it. Fearing that they may be attacked on two sides, Jon decides to meet Daenerys at the Neck with Rhaegal and make a deal. Tyrion warns him that she won’t go for it. Jon mentions a political alliance, but Tyrion tells him Westeros would never go for two Targaryens on the throne, and jokingly tells him that Sansa would be the better wife. Tyrion realizes his mistake, because Jon appears to seriously consider it.

Chapter 20

However, Jon is determined to make an alliance with Daenerys by any means necessary, and though he has a tender moment with Sansa, he departs and arrives in the Neck for a parlay with Daenerys (who flew over land, instead of sea, and thus misses the Greyjoys).

Chapter 21

He initially believes she will threaten him when he mentions that his people wishes she bends the knee, but instead she does (reluctantly) for three reasons: 1, she sees Rhaegal bonding with Jon and is forced to reconcile that he may actually be a Targaryen and she will lose Rhaegal if they are not on good terms, and 2, she wants to be seen as a worthy ruler again and loves Jon... unaware about the Sansa situation.

But more than anything, Daenerys doesn’t want to be seen as a Mad Queen.

She proposes that they join themselves in marriage, knowing that is what Tyrion initially suggested, but Jon refuses. She initially thinks this is because she has to prove herself, but really Jon refuses despite initially planning to accept and even offer it himself first on an impulse when he sees winter roses around them.

Chapter 22

However, despite this positive turn of events of an alliance without conditions, the episode ends with combined army at the Neck learning that Winterfell has been attacked sooner than expected and is being sieged by White Walkers.

Episode 5 – Wolf

Chapter 23

Sansa, Arya, and Bran are desperately trying to protect Winterfell. They are being attacked by an advanced force, and not Viserion, but they know it is only a matter of time. Unfortunately, they are surrounded and unable to escape and flee even if they wanted to. Sansa stands at the battlements, wanting Jon to return.

Chapter 24

En route to Winterfell, Daenerys is desperate to prove herself worthy of being Queen and worthy of Jon, mistaking his earlier actions in season seven for love when really Jon was hoping to get an alliance (and stopped pursuing that after Sansa). She takes a risk, and heads off into battle despite Jon telling her not to.

Chapter 25

The scene switches, and FINALLY the Greyjoys arrive with an imprisoned Cersei at Winterfell, helping Daenerys stop the advance White Walker army besieging the castle with their forces and the remaining Golden Company. They inform Sansa of the truth, and Sansa apologizes (unfortunately, no one in the North is willing to take Theon’s words at face value).

Chapter 26

Jon and the others arrive. Jaime was with Jon, and he is shocked to see Cersei for so many reasons, but especially when he learns she was responsible for King’s Landing. She is put on trial, and found guilty.

Chapter 27

Despite the North rebuking Daenerys, she believes that Jon will warm up to her after her heroic save of his home and Theon informing Jon of what really happened in King’s Landing. But that is not the case, because Daenerys soon realizes that Jon and Sansa have a relationship when they are reunited in an affectionate way.

Chapter 28

However, before she can do something she’ll regret, the Night King attacks, and Daenerys and Jon takes their respective dragons to the sky. Rhaegal is killed in battle, and Jon falls to his death, the battle lost.

Episode 6 – Nightingale

Chapter 29

Starts with Jon surviving his fall like Sansa and Theon did by falling on a mound of snow. Unfortunately, the people of Winterfell need to flee as the Night King licks his wounds for the final assault.

Chapter 30

Cersei is in the broken tower after a cryptic discussion with Bran (he likes those). She wants to die where Bran told her it all began. Jaime and her get into a fight, and she manipulates him to choke her, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. Jaime is horrified, burns the tower with all his crimes, and goes into battle to protect the fleeing civilians and army alongside Brienne.

Chapter 31

He ends up encountering Jon Snow, and instead of going out in a blaze of glory, helps Jon to return to the retreating army. Jon and Sansa are reunited, and Daenerys feels alienated, and is still reeling from the death of Rhaegal knowing he too will be revived by the Night King. She is devastated by the loss of her children and lover. Cue another cryptic discussion with Bran; this time, Daenerys is his victim. He promises her that she will meet her son and husband again (referring to Drogo and Rhaego). Daenerys does not take that well, but nobody takes Branvisions well.

Chapter 32

The army is pushed back into the South in attritional warfare, not having the numbers. They make it all the way to Stokeworth before they are able to secure a castle long enough to defend it. It appears to be the last battle - they will either win the war and live, or lose the war and die.

Chapter 33

In order to secure succession, Jon marries Sansa and their wedding is the last feast before the battle. Jon promises to come home, and we get a repeat of Jon waving goodbye to Sansa with Daenerys looking on in Baelish’s place.

Chapter 34

The battle begins, and Daenerys prepares to square off against Viserion and Rhaegal who are now controlled by the Night King. She takes a risky move, and there is the biggest ball of flame in the sky.

Chapter 35

The three dragons are destroyed, but the Night King survives, seemingly impervious to fire. The dragons are gone, but the army lives on, and Jon prepares to lead the surviving soldiers in a final charge as the castle is sieged and those inside try to hold everyone off.

Chapter 36

But just as all appears lost, Bran wargs into the Night King, momentarily stupefying him, and Jon is able to get the upper hand and kill him, destroying the army. He feels victorious, but when he returns he sees that Bran is dead.

Chapter 37

The snows begins to recede, and Sansa becomes round with child. They return North to Winterfell together with their child.

[maidenoftheforestlight-blog]

Sansa and The Heroine’s Journey

So you may have seen my discussion on Arya and the Heroine’s Journey earlier this week (if you haven’t, feel free to check it out here , and do make sure to check out the whole discussion by reading through the notes). As you’ll see, I do reference Sansa’s role in Arya’s Heroine’s Journey and, in doing so, allude to aspects of Sansa’s own journey. In this post, like the one on Arya, I’m going to apply Maureen Murdock’s outline of the Heroine’s Journey (once again, check it out here) to Sansa’s story and also use it to make predictions as to where I think her story will go in the last two books. 

Now, as I said in my last post, I think Arya’s story so far fits pretty much perfectly with Murdock’s outline of the Heroine’s Journey. By that I mean; Arya’s story is essentially written as a straightforward Heroine’s Journey in a way that suggests GRRM probably did it -at least to some extent- on purpose (compare to how Jon has clearly been given a Hero’s Journey). However, with Sansa we are given a rather unusual version of the Heroine’s Journey. 

Now, this may seem strange to some because, in-universe, Sansa is the much more conventional character while Arya is more unusual and subversive, but when we look at the two sisters in a more meta-fictional way, it is Sansa who is actually the more unusual character in the fantasy genre. To clarify, what I’m saying is; characters like Sansa are not usually the protagonists of their own stories in fantasy fiction. 

Sansa seems to fit the “damsel in distress, fairytale princess” archetype; a character who is usually more of a prop, motivator or reward in a male hero’s quest than a well-developed character in her own right... never mind actually having her own story and character development. Makes a lot of sense why a lot of people in the ASOIAF fandom look at Sansa the way they do, doesn’t it (as a kind of bonus prize for whatever male character they think deserves to win the day)? Well those people have actually focused in on the archetype GRRM is working on with Sansa... except, they haven’t realised that GRRM is actually subverting this archetype by making Sansa a protagonist in the first place!

So, Sansa is a very unusual heroine in this particular genre, it makes sense that she would have a less straightforward Heroine’s Journey... And she does, but it’s still a Heroine’s Journey and to explain how her story fits the pattern, I’m going to have to start from the beginning and go through each stage (a thing I really didn’t need to do with Arya) so more under the cut! 

So, the first stage of the Heroine’s Journey is The Shift from Feminine to Masculine. The linked post on the Heroine’s Journey sums this up as:

During stage one, the heroine rejects the feminine in favor of the masculine. She may still be tied to the feminine, but she increasingly resents that attachment. 

Now, this is pretty clear in Arya’s story, but how does this fit Sansa at all? She’s super feminine and happy about it and everyone even praises her for it! Well, there’s actually two ways that Sansa fits this archetype despite not appearing to on the surface. Firstly, Sansa does reject the feminine... she rejects the subversive femininity she sees in her sister, the more subversive femininity of Northern culture in general (if we use characters like Lyanna and the Mormont women as examples). 

Secondly, as the post goes on to explain, this stage also accounts for the heroine having a difficult relationship with the feminine,  or Mother figure, herself... and this is the case with Sansa. Oh, not with her own mother, but with Cersei, the woman who is to be her mother-in-law, and (as mentioned above) with her little sister, Arya who embodies a different kind of Feminine. 

Within only a few chapters of AGOT we the see a power struggle begin to develop between Cersei and Sansa. Cersei literally attempts (and succeeds to a certain extent) to kill Sansa’s spirit when she orders Lady’s death. Cersei sees Sansa as a potential threat to her power, as a usurper coming in to steal her crown and her son. Cersei both demeans and manipulates Sansa, and tries to coach her into a certain expression of femininity (tears aren’t a woman’s only weapon, the best one’s between your legs). Cersei is the enemy, the Dark Mother and threat to her own individual self expression, the Evil Queen, that Sansa has to overcome.

As for embracing the masculine, while Sansa does not take on typically masculine behaviours, she does forsake her connection to her home and hearth (the almost womb-like comfort and shelter of Winterfell; think on that warm water pulsing through the walls). She leaves this traditionally feminine and familiar starting place of home, and her mother’s care and guidance, for a new world of excitement, pageantry and politics, where she has only her father for parental guidance and- most importantly- where she must prepare for marriage to Joffrey, the future husband and king who societal mores dictate she must now put first before even her own blood. It is indeed a symbolically masculine world Sansa enters in the South.

The next stage in the Heroine’s Journey is The Road of Trials. Mythcreants states:

In stage two, the heroine sets off on a journey, departing the ordinary of the feminine and fully embracing the masculine. This might mean she actually leaves home, sword in hand, or it could just mean that she abandons sewing classes and goes fishing instead.

Regardless, she has something to prove to herself and others. In her new journey, she is surrounded by masculine allies. They still think she is less, or at least not one of them. In her heart, she believes they’re right. But that doesn’t mean she’ll give up. She’s fixated on showing everyone that they’re wrong..All her actions are designed to make her look better to her masculine allies; she never does anything because she simply wants to do it. She’s always compensating for the feminine lurking within her. .

Again, we can see how this perfectly fits Arya who literally does “abandon sewing classes” and goes off on her own journey “sword in hand” and is surrounded by male friends and allies. However, Sansa also enters this stage in her journey. By COK, Sansa is firmly entrenched in (as established in the previous section) the “masculine” world of Kinglanding politics, being used as a pawn in a war between her brother and King Joffrey. She isn’t “embracing” this because she wants to, she simply has to accept her situation in order to survive. She has to learn to understand this new world, to understand the “game” of it in order to protect herself. Sansa’s weapon is not the sword, but her wits (as GRRM himself has stated). She begins to understand men and how their minds work and, in understanding them, learns to protect herself from them or gain them as her allies so that they can protect her. 

And she does gain these male allies. First and foremost we have Sandor Clegane who Sansa appears to develop an empathetic bond with after she comforts him, who gives her his cloak twice and swears himself to her as a protector and who Sansa begins to develop some tender feelings for despite him being much more than “rough around the edges” (more on him later...). We also have  Dontos Hollard, a man who swears himself to Sansa after she saves his life, Tyrion Lannister, who both pities and desires Sansa, and Petyr Baelish, a man who presents himself as her friend and ally due to his own friendship and intense “love” for her mother and sees Sansa as both a protegee and a younger version of Catelyn. 

Being beaten and worn down by constant abuse in Kingslanding, Sansa does let the words of her enemies get to her. Once accustomed to great praise and feeling accomplished as a young lady, she begins to believe insults to her intelligence. Nevertheless, she does not lose her faith or hope and we actually see her challenge Sandor on his nihilistic outlook and terrible behaviour as well as begin to use her new understanding to subtly manipulate the likes of Joffrey and even Tyrion. So we can see that this stage is definitely present in Sansa’s journey.

Stage 3 is The Illusion of Success and is described as such:

By stage three, the heroine has faced great trials and emerged victorious. She feels the thrill of success, and her confidence is bolstered by the applause of others. She has built an impressive, masculine reputation... Somewhere inside, she begins to realize that something is missing from her life. She feels stretched thin. She looks in the mirror, and isn’t sure she knows the person looking back. Even her victories seem empty. She counsels the great and powerful, but does not feel great and powerful herself. 

This is Stage that I think we’ve left Sansa off on in the Vale. If you read the TWOW Alayne chapter, you’ll see that Sansa is kind of riding a high right now. She’s actually happy! Things are better for her than they have been in while... at least... they seem that way. While Sansa’s confidence in herself and her intelligence is improving under Littlefinger’s praise and guidance, she is also quite aware that he is not truly trustworthy. She must be wary of him and his “unfatherly” advances and intentions. 

There are a lot of people Sansa must be wary of in the Vale, actually. She cannot be certain of who to trust. Things are not as they seem. Not even she is what she seems. When she “looks in the mirror” she does not see Sansa Stark, but Alayne Stone. She has to be careful not to lose herself in her alias. Her identity is at risk. 

Now, this next stage is where I get to start making predictions... My favourite part! Stage 4 is The Descent:

In stage four, tragedy strikes. It could be a cataclysm that shakes the world, or a private matter that no one else knows of. Regardless, she is suddenly made aware of what’s really important to her. When her allies come to usher her along on the next adventure, she turns them down... She begins a period of voluntary isolation, descending into a metaphorical cave. There time passes slowly. It’s dark; there are no sights or sounds to distract her. There she searches for herself. 

What is going to be the tragedy that strikes Sansa’s story? Well, imo, it really is going to be one that “shakes the world”; the WINDS OF WINTER are going to reach the Vale and one by one the Chekhov’s Guns that GRRM has set up in Sansa’s narrative are going to be set off. First and foremost, I do think there will be some kind of natural disaster that affects the Vale with the coming of Winter, probably an avalanche considering the ominous imagery GRRM has been using (check out this essay for more on that). As the dominoes fall in the aftermath, Littlefinger’s supposed plan for Sansa, the one that he so nicely laid out for us so that we could be absolutely certain that none of it would ever actually happen, will be proven moot; Harry is going to die, Sansa is going to be exposed too soon, enemies are going to show their hands and real allies are going to come forth. 

The result of this, without going too much into speculation as to “how” (though I recommend @bluelemonsforever‘s Sansa TWOW prediction essay), is that Sansa is going to end up on the Quiet Isle with her old ally Sandor Clegane. It is in this peaceful place that she’s going to have to return to herself, to her identity, to Sansa Stark, and is also going to be called on to “woman up” by new allies who now know her identity. She is a Stark heir after all and many people will be looking for a Stark to rally behind. Coming to know her true self in this isolated place will also involve addressing the things she has repressed or ignored in her subconscious... this includes her subconscious desires and it is in this stage, on the Quiet Isle, that I strongly believe Sansa will have some kind of sexual awakening (her narrative is the “romance plot” of ASOIAF after all; she’s GRRM’s exploration and subversion of the fairytale princess archetype, of course love and sex is going to play a major role... and has already). This is where Stage 4 meets Stage 5 because as Sansa comes to greater self awareness, understanding and acceptance, she begins to embody “the goddess”...

Stage 5 is The Meeting with the Goddess:

The heroine begins stage five in her darkest hour. But she is rewarded for her struggle when she encounters the goddess.

The goddess symbolizes the true nature of the feminine, and the best of what the heroine left behind. The goddess imparts a great truth to the heroine about herself and the feminine.

When the heroine parts with the goddess, she feels reborn.

Am I saying that Sansa is her own personal goddess.... yes, kind of? But of course, not in a literal sense. The previous stage is going to involve something of a crisis of identity for Sansa. It’s going to involve her facing a lot of the things she has chose to repress or ignore for her own sanity and comfort. It’s going to be a very difficult for her to confront these things... The pay off, I think will be in coming to self awareness and through this, beginning to come into her power as woman, and understanding what that means. 

Just as Arya is going to face her darkness in Lady Stoneheart, I think Sansa is going to have to face her darkness by actually looking at herself and recognizing her own shadow side. In doing so, she’s going to have to let go of her notions of perfect womanhood and the black and white morality of the songs she loves. The worth of the songs is in the high ideals they encourage people to strive for, but the real world is not that kind of fantasy where decisions are easy and where you get everything you deserve for being the “good girl” your parents raised you to be (it might get a bit meta, yes). The world might not be that kind of fantasy, but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your morality to it, to lose yourself in it’s corruption in order to survive... It does mean you have to open your mind and keep it sharp while also keeping an open heart.

This is where Sansa finds out that Arya is alive (because Sandor will tell her) and where she realises her error in shunning her sister for supposed “imperfection” -and it’s possible that she also meets or hears of Brienne in this stage- and so comes to an understanding of different expressions of femininity and womanhood (in this way both Arya and Brienne also represent the symbolic goddess she “meets”). 

In setting herself free from these kinds of mental constraints, Sansa becomes the symbolic goddess and is ready to meet with the god in hieros gamos, the sacred marriage. On the Quiet Isle, I believe Sansa will marry Sandor Clegane and probably become pregnant with his child... a daughter that will look like Arya (there’s a lot of fertility symbolism in that holy place, Arya was often mistaken for Sandor’s kid in their travels and Sansa having an Arya lookalike for a daughter has been foreshadowed). Here the Maiden meets the Warrior and becomes the Mother and he becomes the Father. We go into winter with the promise of new life... a dream of spring. 

Stage 6, The Reconciliation with the Feminine:

In stage 6, the heroine heads back to the familiar surroundings she left behind. She finds and nurtures her inner child, the part of her left from before she rejected the feminine. She may seek to bond with the mother, and to gain new understanding about her...  She spends her time on simple tasks of a feminine nature. She receives no glory for her toil. 

Returning to points made in Stage 1, Sansa returns to Winterfell- the starting point, the safe-space of her childhood- and starts embracing the lifestyle and culture she once rejected. She will also, I think, be reunited with Arya at this Stage and it is very fitting that this is called the “Reconciliation with the Feminine” as this is the time that both sisters will be working on their feelings towards each other, healing old wounds and strengthening their bond. Sansa will now be able to see Arya through new, wiser, more understanding eyes. 

As I discuss in the post about Arya, it will be Sansa’s acceptance of Arya’s own personal form feminine expression and womanhood that allows her to fully release the pain of feeling rejected or looked on as a failure in childhood by Catelyn, Septa Mordane and Sansa herself. I also think this “reconciliation stage” will extend to Jon Snow, who also felt rejected by Catelyn and whose relationship with young Sansa was therefore somewhat distant. Sansa will come to truly embody ‘The Mother” as an archetype from here, acting, as the eldest female Stark, as something of a matriarch within Winterfell. 

I think this stage and the next will bleed into one another a lot for Sansa so I kind of have to talk about them together. The next stage is Stage 7, The Reincorporation of The Masculine:

In stage seven, a crisis erupts in the realm of the feminine. In dealing with this crisis, the heroine once again faces the masculine side of herself, ready to emerge and dominate. She now understands the inner need that the masculine fulfills, and why she lost herself in it before. She recognizes that while the masculine was not her true goal, it was an important part of her journey. 

So again, it’s kind of hard to see Sansa in this because... When exactly has Sansa had to face a “masculine side, ready to emerge and dominate”? But, again, these things can be more symbolic than literal, or rather, in this case, can be more physical than psychological. By that I mean, it’s time for Sansa to face her “savage giant” and also deal with her enemy, Cersei (which is why I say that this Stage will probably bleed into the “Reconciliation with the Feminine” stage). 

As I mention in the Arya post, Winterfell will probably be threatened and here our heroines will have to call upon a more “masculine”, martial, side to defend the “feminine”, family and childhood home. For Sansa in particular, I think this may mean that Cersei actually sends Robert Strong with an army, to Winterfell in order have her killed as Cersei is still out for Sansa and I wouldn’t put it past her in her mental state to do something like this. This would definitely present a crisis to Sansa both on a personal level, as her life and home is threatened and also for the sake of her lover/husband Sandor Clegane, who will have to face the creature who was his brother. 

I’ve talked about this before on my blog but here it is again; I feel quite strongly that Sandor will in fact be forced to fight his brother, not for revenge, but to protect his new family... but that it will be Sansa who strikes the killing blow and saves him (perhaps in a little homage on GRRM’s part to Tolkein’s Eowyn and her slaying of the Witch King). In doing this, Sansa will finally realise the full strength and potential she possesses when she doesn’t put herself in a box.

Alternatively (or maybe this will all happen, who knows?) the “Masculine” that will “emerge and dominate” will come in the form of Petyr Baelish coming back into Sansa’s life and trying to entice her back into his darkness. It is definitely believed by a significant amount of the ASOIAF fandom that he is the “savage giant” that Sansa will slay and I definitely don’t discount the possibility. In this case, the “Reconciliation with the Feminine” also comes in with Sansa assuming responsibility for the trust Catelyn placed in Littlefinger and dealing with him once and for all in a very firm rejection of his particular brand of politicking. The “Reincorporation of the Masculine” aspect to this could also mean that Sansa also assumes her father’s role as justice in the North and acts as an executioner after discovering Baelish’s role in her father’s death and family’s downfall. 

Whatever the case, these two stages are sure to be the exciting climax of Sansa’s arc where I think much of what her narrative has been building up to will come to a head and be resolved. 

This leads us to the last bit, Stage 8, The Union:

 By stage 8, the heroine has found balance between the feminine and the masculine. But she is not finished until she helps others find that balance as well. She uses her synergy of the feminine and masculine to bring everyone, on either side, together. If they are embattled by a great enemy, her leadership guides them to victory. 

As stated in my comments on the “Reconciliation” stage, I think Sansa takes on a matriarchal role from that point on and I think that running her household and holding Winterfell will be her major role in the war against the Others. She’s no warrior or mage like her siblings, so I don’t think she’ll have much to do with the fighting at all, but she can organise food and supplies and transport and get people to safety and shelter. Again, think of LOTR’s Eowyn who is a beloved leader of her people when the men ride off to war and think of Sansa herself, being of comfort to the other women, to Lancel Lannister and to Sandor during the Battle of the Blackwater. Sansa’s strength will be in giving support, comfort, inspiration, hope and healing through the battles of winter. 

The skills she has gained in politicking over the course of her journey will help her with negotiating and gaining allies and she will be able to prove herself as a strong and capable female leader who is loved by her people, “If I am ever a queen, I’ll make them love me”. I think with her growth in empathy and compassion and knowledge she has gained throughout her story, that she, along with Arya and many of the other characters who survive the war, will help to create a better world for Westeros. 

Well, this is the Sansa essay! Please let me know what you think of how Sansa’s fits into the archetypal Heroine’s Journey. I can’t wait to discuss this with people as you’re certain to bring up stuff I forgot to mention or never even thought about!

[thebluelemontree]

Hey! First of all: I love your blog & meta. Second; do you have any other ASOIAF ships you like other than Sansan ( like Gendrya and J/B) & why?

Thanks!  Definitely Gendrya and JB.  My ships just tend to be canon ships.  Maybe that doesn’t make me very creative, but I really just like seeing why people click.  For the most part, I think George is pretty good about making sure his pairings have shared core values, they grow and change each other.  He also gives them internal conflicts to overcome.  There’s value in the relationship whether they wind up together or not.

How could I not like JB when it’s another twist on the BatB theme?  My hope for TWOW is that we see Jaime and Hyle Hunt actually have a legit rivalry for Brienne’s affections.  A sort of do over from the fake courtship at Renly’s camp.  I’m not really rooting for Ser Hyle (I do hope LS doesn’t hang the doofus), but he just might be what Jaime needs to finally act on his feelings.    

While Arya is struggling with trying to forget her true identity, it’s Gendry that’s keeping the porch light on, waiting for her to come home.  They both care about fairness and justice for the smallfolk, but ever since he found out she was Arya Stark he’s been plagued with insecurities.  It pisses him off when Arya suggests he could come back to Winterfell and smith for her family, not realizing that Gendry is acutely aware that her family would never allow them to have such a familiar relationship.  He’s finally found someone he connects with then he’s knocked back down by class boundaries.  IIRC, it’s Lem that says he can find work smithing in any lord’s castle, but Gendry chooses to stay with the BwB and smith for them.  For the first time in his life, he’s being offered a choice of what he wants to do.  What he really wants is to be a knight (he’s made his own helm and making his own sword).  He’s hoping Beric can do that for him one day.  Arya views this as another rejection and abandonment from her little pack of Gendry and Hot Pie.  But I think it’s significant that Gendry is trying to raise himself up a bit more, despite all his resentment towards the noble class.  Anyway, their spat hardly matters when the Hound steals her away.  He’s staying close to the inn at the crossroads where Arya was last sighted.  There’s still blood stains on the floor from the fight with the Mountain’s men.  He’s heard the stories of the Saltpans and he must be imagining the very worst.  He’s living with Arya’s ghost and hoping she’ll come back.  Now Brienne is with the BwB and perhaps can train him, tell him about his parentage, and what she knows happened to Arya.

Let’s see, there’s also Jon and Val.  I don’t know why there isn’t more Jon and Val shipping because they flirt a lot on page.  He’s definitely attracted to confident women that can teach him a thing or two.  Jon thinks she’s beautiful and has thought about marrying her, having a child with her.  He’s already “stolen” her, but Jon You-Know-Nothing Snow doesn’t realize it... again!  They are working together to save as many people as they can from the Others.  He thinks Ghost and Val “belong together.”  He respects her and entrusts her with an important mission to find Tormud.  If she had failed to return, Stannis would have likely executed Jon.  There’s just so much potential there, but we just don’t know what’s going to happen to post resurrection Jon.  But she is the most similar to Queen Nymeria on page than any other character.  What she and Jon are doing mirrors Nymeria and Mors Martell with the Rhoynish integration into Dorne. 

Well I do have one crackship and I mentioned this before:  Myranda Royce and Timmett One-Eye.  Myranda’s been quite disappointed in love and (my theory) the reason why Lady Anya rejected her as a bride for Harry the Heir is because she’s a big girl.  In TWOW sample, Harry dumped Cissy, the mother of his first child because she gained weight during pregnancy.  His reaction is unequivocally fatphobic.  Lady Anya arranged for Cissy to marry one of her household guards.  Because it would be political and social suicide for her family to arrange a marriage for her future high lord with a wife he would find ugly, Lady Anya rejects the suit.  That’s why Myranda takes it so personally why she’s so hurt by Harry the Arse.  Now her father is threatening to marry her to an unwanted suitor (like Uthor Shett or Ossifer Lipps) just to be rid of her.  Notice that she’s looks to a strong man like Lyn Corbray for a husband, but alas, she doesn’t have the right plumbing for him.  Timmett, like Val, is a bit different for a wildling.  He’s slightly more sophisticated than Shagga or Chella.  There’s a theory that he’s the son of the Waynwood daughter that was stolen by Burned Men on her way to marry a Bracken.  I have absolutely no proof of this happening, but I’m kinda low key hoping that Sansa remembers Timmett from his time in KL and is able to broker a kind of peace deal in the Vale.  Perhaps Timmett would like to be introduced to her spirited, chestnut-haired friend.  Or maybe he just steals her.  lol I told you it was crackship!  

[empiregalaxy]

Dying Men, Priests, Samaritans & Ill Intents in ASOIAF

There was a man. He was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was set upon by men of ill intent. They stripped the traveler of his clothes, they beat him, and they left him bleeding in the dirt. And a priest happened by saw the traveler. But he moved to the other side of the road and continued on. And then a Levite, a religious functionary, he came to the place, saw the dying traveler. But he too moved to the other side of the road, passed him by. But then came a man from Samaria, a Samaritan, a good man. He saw the traveler bleeding in the road and he stopped to aid him without thinking of the circumstance or the difficulty it might bring him. The Samaritan tended to the traveler's wounds, applying oil and wine. And he carried him to an inn, gave him all the money he had for the owner to take care of the traveler, as the Samaritan, he continued on his journey. He did this simply because the traveler was his neighbor. He loved his city and all the people in it.

                                                 (What the hell does that mean?)

 It means that I'm not the Samaritan. That I'm not the priest, or the Levite. That I am the ill intent who set upon the traveler on a road that he should not have been on.

One of my favourite moments in ‘Daredevil’ comes from the end of season one. It’s where Wilson Fisk, explains to a security force his story using a theological allegory. It’s effective, and meaningful. Fisk decides that he is the ‘ill intent’, not the Samaritian. It means alot for the show, for Wilson Fisk and the overall arching themes. It also reminds me of ASOIAF in a way.

We can establish the characters in his story includes

The dying man / traveller

The priest (who does nothing)

The Levite (who does nothing)

The Samaritan (who is a force of goodness, and helps the dying man)

The ‘ill intent’ (who is the reason why the man is dying in the first place)

So, who is who? 

THE DYING MAN 

Well, the first character to come to mind for the ‘dying man’ is Sandor Clegane. Not only do we have a scene of him physically dying in The Riverlands

She did the gash in his thigh first, then the shallower cut on the back of his neck. Sandor coiled his right hand into a fist and beat against the ground when she did his leg. When it came to his neck, he bit the stick so hard it broke, and she had to find him a new one. She could see the terror in his eyes. "Turn your head." She trickled the wine down over the raw red flesh where his ear had been, and fingers of brown blood and red wine crept over his jaw. He did scream then, despite the stick. Then he passed out from the pain. (Ch 74, ASOS)

Sandor’s also -left- to die. I don’t think, metaphorically Arya is the ‘ill intent’. (I’ll discuss her later in this meta). My focus here is on Sandor, and how he morphs into “The Gravedigger” (or if we are going by the show- “the broken man” identity). I think Sandor Clegane is rather suicidal and he is definately suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Whilst having those don’t make you ‘dying’ it does make you vulnerable. To quote Thoros Of Myr, ‘ Sandor Clegane was a man in torment.’

Travel also plays a huge role in his arc- from the King’s Landing location in ACOK to The Riverlands in ASOS / AFFC. Travelers, historically- can be naive and prone to being taken advantage of. I think this also applies to Sandor. 

Another part of Sandor Clegane’s arc is dealing with the apathy of others- in this case, the ‘priests’ and ‘levites’. Joffrey and Cersei treat him horribly, and it’s Sansa, who is one of the very few people who try to reach out to him. There isn’t much indication in the first two books that Sandor Clegane had a strong relationship with The Faith Of The Seven, in fact he’s rather cynical about it. So overall, I think Sandor is the Dying Man. There’s a huge vulnerability to his character and I feel as if he is the best fit. 

Another would be Bran Stark. Not only has he had trials and faced ‘ill intents’- from being pushed from the tower by Jaime Lannister, to having his family die and be seperated from the living members. He’s also travelled alot- and by A Dance With Dragons, is incredibly upset and even suicidal. The hospitality he gets by the Children Of The Forest is coded as rather spooky, untrustworthy and mysterious (hence the paste theories) and beyond The Wall is something out of a horror show, but it could be interpreted as Samaritan-like hospitality. Bran doesn’t encounter many travellers on his journey- not as many compared to the likes of Brienne and Arya. So that’s why I’d pick Sandor Clegane as the best example.

Theon Greyjoy, is a good fit in my opinion. The ‘ill intent’ is obviously Ramsay. Not only is Theon brutally tortured, but also deals with a degrading identity of ‘Reek’. He encounters many people who do nothing and do not care that he is being abused- numerous northern lords, for instance. They are the ‘priests’ in Theon’s arc. Is Theon dying? The cold is absolutely frightening, and his arc could take numerous directions. He’s a character who I feel is marked for death and sincerely believes he is going to die... only to find he will live.  

A good female example for the ‘dying man’ would be Jeyne Poole. In a similar situation to Theon. An exception is that people are more invested in the abuse Ramsay is showing, but there is glaring ‘but’. People only care because Jeyne is “Arya”- Ned’s valiant daughter. Would people care for Jeyne if she had no disguise? That’s a rough question GRRM poses. And yeah, I think the answer would make us all uncomfortable. 

PRIESTS & LEVITES

They both seem to be interchangable, and bare similarities. They both leave the Dying Man to die, and any attempts at pity ring false as they do not fully help him. Here apathy is a theme in ASOIAF, and also a theme in history, “when good men do nothing” (heavily discussed in a Post World War II-world). There are some instances of priests / levites

Lysa Arryn, her doing nothing in the War Of Five Kings

Kingsguard to Aerys II and Joffrey Baratheon

Barristan Selmy also considers the position of ‘knights’ (in particular, kingsguard) to have a role in general apathy

I took Robert's pardon, aye. I served him in Kingsguard and council. Served with the Kingslayer and others near as bad, who soiled the white cloak I wore. Nothing will excuse that. I might be serving in King's Landing still if the vile boy upon the Iron Throne had not cast me aside, it shames me to admit. But when he took the cloak the White Bull had draped about my shoulders, and sent men to kill me that selfsame day, it was as though he'd ripped a caul off my eyes. That was when I knew I must find my true king, and die in his service..

I think quite highly of Barristan in alot of regards, because he overcomes his apathy and qualms, in order to dedicate his life to something higher. So he is a good aversion to the ‘priest’- in Barristan’s version, he helps the dying man. He reflects quite frequently on him ‘doing nothing’ in his chapters in A Dance With Dragons:

He had seen things it pained him to recall, and more than once he wondered how much of the blood was on his own hands.

This also brings up a great philosophical question: if you leave the dying man to die, and he dies- is that blood on your hands? I think ASOIAF gives a clear answer - yes, it does. The series is about characters overcoming it, and becoming better citizens.

So who are the -straight forward- Priests & Levites in ASOIAF, besides Lysa Arryn? I’d also suggest Meryn Trant, who does not care, full stop.

Other men might have cursed her, warned her to keep silent, even begged for her forgiveness. Ser Meryn Trant did none of these. Ser Meryn Trant simply did not care.  

But he could also be argued as the ‘ill intent’. Apathy is ugly, and does mean ill. Pretty much: anyone who turned away from the suffering another character experiences is a ‘priest’. 

This is also clear in the arc of Sansa Stark. She is not a ‘priest’- she is quite kind after all, yet her arc is stacked with people who appear to care, yet don’t really. There’s the Tyrells in A Storm Of Swords, (I think Margaery isn’t a bad egg- but her cousins don’t really get a flattering description), Pycelle, Kevan and Lancel Lannister who have no issue doing actions that are tyrannical. Same could be said about Arys Oakheart, and all the times he strikes Sansa. Sansa herself is rather interesting, but her arc deals alot with ‘ill intents’ and ‘priests / levites.’

I’d also expand on Pycelle to be a Priest / Levite. His apologism for Lannisters has always been ridiculous, and then there is the part of him being okay with Daenerys Targaryen being murdered.

Yet I ask you this—should war come again, how many soldiers will die? How many towns will burn? How many children will be ripped from their mothers to perish on the end of a spear? Is it not wiser, even kinder, that Daenerys Targaryen should die now so that tens of thousands might live?

Therefore- we can establish that the major priests / levites of the story include Lysa Arryn, Meryn Trant & Pycelle

THE SAMARITANS 

These are motivated by love and kindness. I love this part of the story, because I can think about just how awesome some characters are. You’ve got Sansa Stark, saving Lancel, Ser Dontos and just being her badass, kind self. You’ve also got Arya, who gives water to men in need to aid, you’ve got her standing up for the unfortunate and smallfolk. Not many people read the Stark sisters narrative as a Samaritan story, but it’s something to consider. 

Others include- Brienne Of Tarth, Meera Reed, Edmure Tully, Podrick Payne, The Elder Brother and in the show, Ian McShane’s character Ray also fits. The whole thing about being a samaritan is that it’s usually at the expense of something. You are risking something huge, like your life or it comes at a large cost. The Samaritan in the story ‘gives all the money he had’. When Brienne Of Tarth is on her quest to save Sansa, she risks her life

I will never stop looking. I will give up my life if need be, give up my honor, give up all my dreams, but I will find her.

If the ‘soiled knights’ are priests / levites, then ‘true knights’ are the samaritans of the story. Brienne also goes on to say

Young or old, a true knight is sworn to protect those who are weaker than himself, or die in the attempt.

Brienne is probably my favourite example of a Samaritan. She, and Podrick risk so much for the quest for Sansa. It’s more than an oath- it’s love. Without getting all gushy, it’s hard to not be moved by these acts of pure selflessness. 

THE MEN OF ILL INTENT

These characters are the reason why the problem exists in the first place. Why the man is dying. And this is for the villains of ASOIAF. Think Ramsay Bolton, Euron Greyjoy, Cersei Lannister, Gregor Clegane, Joffrey Baratheon. ASOIAF actually gives us a depiction of ‘men of ill intent’ and no one, fits the mould better than the men that Tywin Lannister employs. And that includes Gregor

Your Mountain stole my harvest and burned everything he could not carry off. He put my castle to the torch and raped one of my daughters. I will have recompense.

and in A Game Of Thrones, Gregor Clegane and his men on Tywin’s orders- sack the Riverlands. There are also the atrocities at Harrenhal, which Arya and the smallfolk experienced

A young mother with a pox-scarred face offered to freely tell them all she knew if they'd promise not to hurt her daughter. The Mountain heard her out; the next morning he picked her daughter, to be certain she'd held nothing back. The ones chosen were questioned in full view of the other captives, so they could see the fate of rebels and traitors. A man the others called the Tickler asked the questions. His face was so ordinary and his garb so plain that Arya might have thought him one of the villagers before she had seen him at his work. "Tickler makes them howl so hard they piss themselves," old stoop-shoulder Chiswyck told them. He was the man she'd tried to bite, who'd called her a fierce little thing and smashed her head with a mailed fist. Sometimes he helped the Tickler. Sometimes others did that. Ser Gregor Clegane himself would stand motionless, watching and listening, until the victim died.

I think if the Samaritan story had to take place in an ASOIAF location- it’d be The Riverlands. No location is more perfect. The Riverlands have suffered so much death and heartache. Therefore, Gregor Clegane fits the mould (quite) well. As does Tywin.

Tywin Lannister was as much fox as lion. If indeed he'd sent Ser Gregor to burn and pillage—and Ned did not doubt that he had—he'd taken care to see that he rode under cover of night, without banners, in the guise of a common brigand. Should

The ‘men of ill intent’ can also include the people who give the order. So Tywin and Cersei make a whole lot of sense in being included. 

JAIME LANNISTER

Now onto the controversial topic: Jaime & Redemption. I know, it’s been discussed to death but here is my perspective (and how it fits in with the Samaritan story)

Jaime is an interesting aversion. He’s all five. His arc could be interpreted

He’s been in a state of mental and physical distress- when he loses his hand in A Storm Of Swords. This is described in depth, what this loss meant for him

"Jaime," Brienne whispered, so faintly he thought he was dreaming it. "Jaime, what are you doing?" "Dying," he whispered back. "No," she said, "no, you must live." He wanted to laugh. "Stop telling me what do, wench. I'll die if it pleases me."

(...) 

The days and the nights blurred together in a haze of pain. He would sleep in the saddle, pressed against Brienne, his nose full of the stink of his rotting hand, and then at night he would lie awake on the hard ground, caught in a waking nightmare. Weak as he was, they always bound him to a tree. It gave him some cold consolation to know that they feared him that much, even now. Brienne was always bound beside him. She lay there in her bonds like a big dead cow, saying not a word. The wench has built a fortress inside herself. They will rape her soon enough, but behind her walls they cannot touch her. But Jaime's walls were gone. They had taken his hand, they had taken his sword hand, and without it he was nothing. The other was no good to him. Since the time he could walk, his left arm had been his shield arm, no more. It was his right hand that made him a knight; his right arm that made him a man.

Jaime, although his mental and physical health has improved, has experienced a stage of being ‘the dying man’. He’s also been the ‘ill intent’ in the lives of Bran Stark (as we all know, pushed him from the tower). You don’t have to like Jaime’s actions throughout the series. You don’t have to be okay with Jaime’s actions. The story of the samaritan is not about making excuses or apologizing. What I do think Jaime’s arc is about- is overcoming apathy.

Jaime has also been the Levite / Priest. This is when he was Kingsguard to Aerys II Targaryen.

The sight had filled him with disquiet, reminding him of Aerys Targ-aryen and the way a burning would arouse him. A king has no secrets from his Kingsguard. Relations between Aerys and his queen had been strained during the last years of his reign. They slept apart and did their best to avoid each other during the waking hours. But whenever Aerys gave a man to the flames, Queen Rhaella would have a visitor in the night. The day he burned his mace-and-dagger Hand, Jaime and Jon Darry had stood at guard outside her bedchamber whilst the king took his pleasure. "You're hurting me," they had heard Rhaella cry through the oaken door. "You're hurting me." In some queer way, that had been worse than Lord Chelsted's screaming. "We are sworn to protect her as well," Jaime had finally been driven to say. "We are," Darry allowed, "but not from him."

Jaime struggles with being in an apathetic position- I don’t think he likes being a Levite / Priest who does nothing. He in fact, calls out Meryn Trant on his apathy

"Ser Meryn." Jaime smiled at the sour knight with the rust-red hair and the pouches under his eyes. "I have heard it said that Joffrey made use of you to chastise Sansa Stark." He turned the White Book around one-handed. "Here, show me where it is in our vows that we swear to beat women and children."

So we can establish Jaime has a firm relationship with Priests / Levites- they disgust him, he doesn’t want to be one. I think Jaime has trauma from Aerys reign, and that influences him.

Now, the Samaritan part. Oh this is controversial. Like Brienne, this links with his quest for Sansa Stark and his relationship with Brienne Of Tarth

"I told you, I will never serve . . . " " . . . such foul creatures as us. Yes, I recall. Hear me out, Brienne. Both of us swore oaths concerning Sansa Stark. Cersei means to see that the girl is found and killed, wherever she has gone to ground . . . " Brienne's homely face twisted in fury. "If you believe that I would harm my lady's daughter for a sword, you—" "Just listen," he snapped, angered by her assumption. "I want you to find Sansa first, and get her somewhere safe. How else are the two of us going to make good our stupid vows to your precious dead Lady Catelyn? The wench blinked. "I . . . I thought . . . " "I know what you thought." Suddenly Jaime was sick of the sight of her. She bleats like a bloody sheep. "When Ned Stark died, his greatsword was given to the King's Justice," he told her. "But my father felt that such a fine blade was wasted on a mere headsman. He gave Ser Ilyn a new sword, and had Ice melted down and reforged. There was enough metal for two new blades. You're holding one. So you'll be defending Ned Stark's daughter with Ned Stark's own steel, if that makes any difference to you."

Part of being a samaritan is about sacrifice, and here is where I think Jaime’s arc becomes crucial: at the end of his arc in ADWD, he goes off with Brienne under the presumption that Sansa will be killed by Sandor Clegane. This is a meta for another time (because this is getting really, really long) but I feel as if Jaime could potentially have a role in the War For Dawn. That he’d put aside the allusions of ‘knights’ and actively do the right thing. This is not about redemption, but about being a better person. Like I said, you don’t have to like Jaime’s actions- I just think the five characters in the story of the dying traveller is interwovern in his arc.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Okay, this got long. I just think ASOIAF is a text that is covering themes that are rather biblically epic- the scope of good and evil, and how man reacts to it. What I liked about the Samaritan story is just how real it felt. It reminds me strongly of ASOIAF, and I hope I made that clear.