More and more, reading this novel is feeling like an exercise in self-torture.
Tyrion: Even Tyrion is somewhat sad that Winterfell has fallen to Theon. I think he feels the draw of the north, and the wild. Even as he shuns it afterward, he knows that something evil has befallen a special place. I like all the little pieces about how magic is returning, like how the wildfire spells worked better than they used to because the dragons are back. I see big payoffs down the road for anyone who wants to see more magic.It's funny to see Cersei miss so completely with Alayaya, but man, more credit to Tyrion. The woman that Cersei holds really means nothing to him, but he still seeks to protect her. Any other non-Stark male in the book would have thrown her to the dogs. Yet he feels the fear that Cersei wanted to put in him, as it very well could have been Shae. He fears where his love will lead him.
Theon: I'm going to save my scathing comments for Theon for my final post, since it's really just one long rant about how much I hate him. Don't get me wrong by the way, I think Theon is an interesting character. He's a self-important narcissist with an entitlement complex who craves power, yet for however much he might reject the upbringing he received at Winterfell, Stark honor seeped into his bones in a way he never would have admitted openly. But he never really understood how it worked. I'll go into this more later, but the Greyjoys rule from fear and terror, and the Starks from love and justice. The problem there is that you can conquer a castle of people who feared the previous ruler and have them fear you too, but you can't conquer the castle whose people loved the old ruler and expect them to automatically love you too, even if you practice the same justice and honor. You have to earn it, and this is what he doesn't get, because he wants it handed to him, just as he wanted the Greyjoy command handed to him when he returned home. He thinks things should come easy to him, like power, and love, and sex. When it doesn't, his world collapses, similar to Sansa but her denial shields her, and Theon had a meltdown. And because of his character, and his backstabbing douchebaggery, I hate him ever so much worse than most of the Lannisters. We expect them to be evil.
Jon: So he lets the wilding girl go. This novel has given us equal parts ill-effects and positive effects from mercy. Either she'll rat him out, or like Arya with Jaqen, she'll actually come back to help Jon in some way. It's nice that it's never predictable, but I hate that it has me questioning whether or not characters should be merciful. Does Bran really have enough power and control now to speak to Jon in his dreams far beyond the wall? He seems to be advancing quickly. Jon's story is quickly becoming my favorite, as it has all the elements from the other stories I like, but I tire of the clash of kings. His story is simpler, but no less intriguing.
Sansa: I feel like her clock is ticking. I would say that she knows fears that Arya doesn't, but her denial runs so damned deep that I don't actually think she's as afraid as Arya, and she's certainly not as afraid as she should be given who surrounds her.
Catelyn: I can't believe they'd unceremoniously do away with Bran like that, so I'm going to just assume that that's misdirection and Bran is fine. But I know how she feels. I want so many things to come to pass as well. She's lost so much, yet she's in a position of relative safety. I'm left to believe that really, it wasn't Jaime or Tyrion that tried to kill Bran, or even Cersei. Was it Littlefinger? If Cersei really thinks she has nothing to lose, and thinks that Sansa and Arya are her last two children left, she might do anything. She might kill Jaime, she might set him free, she might ride to the walls of King's Landing with her sword to his neck. I know I talk a lot about what characters have lost, only because they have so much taken away from them, but has anyone lost as much as Catelyn? Ned, her sons, her daughters, her father, her home in danger, her adopted home sacked, what's left for her? I feel like she could be so strong, but how strong can anyone be amidst that much loss. I fear for her more than any, especially after seeing her sister collapse so completely when Jon Arryn died.
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