Now that we're here at the near end of the novel, as this is the penultimate entry for the novel, a lot of these closing chapters involves letting each of the characters from both novels (with some exceptions obviously, as Sansa, for example, hasn't been in this book at all (mercifully)) have a little bit of face time before the end of the story. A lot of this is about setting up the cliffhangers, or at least, setting up a somewhat firm end point for each storyline that allows things to rest before Martin takes them up again in Winds of Winter. As such, some of my covering of each character might be a little longer to wrap them up. On the other hand, at the end of my next post, I'll do a recap of all the cliffhangers and what not to sort of present all the unanswered questions going into the next book. And I'll propose my own theories for each as well.
The Discarded Knight (Barristan Selmy): I'll say this, Barristan is one of the most interesting new characters of the novel. Melisandre and Barristan are two characters we've known for a long time but only recently we've gotten a very small sliver of insight into. And by and large, they've been absolutely fantastic, and they've left me wanting more. I really hope we get more of them in the next novel. Martin has said in interviews that Selmy was a big part of untying the narrative nightmare that was the Meereenese Knot, and I think it really shows. First off, Selmy just exudes honor, wisdom, and skill. He's been around forever, and more so, he's been at court forever, so he knows court politics and intrigue, even if he's not as well versed in the behind the scenes stuff as someone like Varys is. He has compassion too. We've seen more than our fair share of knights and warriors who kill because killing is fun. Very few are discerning in their targets, and even fewer actually feel genuine sympathy for them. Barristan, however, is someone who is supremely confident in his own abilities, and only kills when he has to. I think he's what Jaime Lannister would be if Jaime hadn't lost his hand, but had gone through his personality tune-up. Seeing through his eyes is also a fun way to gain perspective in a number of matters. Quentyn looks ever so much more the boy when viewed through Quentyn. One thing that I like about Martin is that even when using POV chapters to shift our view of characters, he allows their thoughts and feelings about other characters to seep through, but still keeps it neutral enough for the reader to independently form our own opinion of others. You saw this a lot with how most of our views of Rhaegar came from Robert, but as we gained a wider perspective, Rhaegar really opened up. It was an honorable thing to try to get Quentyn to leave, and it also showcased the differing levels of maturity between an old man who knows there is no dishonor in walking away, and a man who has barely lifted his sword in combat and wants to win his spurs. More Barristan, please!
The Spurned Suitor (Quentyn): The funny thing here is the total role reversal. In the beginning, it was Drink who was all gung-ho and Quentyn who wasn't battle tested and would have rather been in a library than a sword fight. Now you've got Quentyn ready to run off and be a dragon tamer? Yeesh, the boy has really ratcheted up his testosterone level a few marks if he goes from books to dragon taming. Still, the fun part of this is that you can see that 100 years from now, Quentyn will be one of those famous stories that Old Nan or someone tells, about Quentyn the Dragontamer. It's the stuff of legend. I don't know if it will work or not (despite his claims of dragon blood, I really, really don't see this working out), but something worth of a bard song, whereas most of the butchery so far isn't worth of anything.
The Griffin Reborn (Lord Jon Connington): Some interesting background information on Robert's Rebellion, the Battle of the Bells, a what-might-have-been history if only Connington had caught Robert when he was in that little village. I forgot (were we already supposed to know?) that he had greyscale. Funny how this disease, much akin to leprosy (which is where I'm assuming Martin derived it, given its status as a disfiguring medieval malady) sort of came out of nowhere in this book, and now it's a big deal. That also really makes me wonder whether or not Tyrion will end up with it, since they do bring it up again in one of this chapters, as a throwaway, and Jon got it saving Tyrion. Honestly, I have some serious doubts about Aegon. For a number of reasons, he really throws a wrench into a lot of big theories and plans. Two of the biggest prophesies in this thing are Azor Azai reborn, and the Prince that was Promised. Now, are they the same person? Two different people? I don't know. Melisandre thinks it's Stannis, but I have serious reservations. And the thing with Lightbringer is, it's one of those self-fulfilling prophesies. She needed a guy with a magic light sword so she made him one. That's a stupid prophesy if that's how you fulfill it. No, my big bets for those are Daenerys as Azor Azai reborn, since she fits the legend more closely, and either her also for the Prince who was Promised (since apparently women are princes in the Targaryen line as well), or Jon Snow for the Prince that was Promised, since if the theory holds, he is also a descendent of the Targaryen line (this is why I think they are two different people, since one is Targaryen specific). Now Aegon creates another big blip on the radar. Where does he fall in this? And for that matter, is he really even Aegon? We have only Connington's word on this, and it's a big pill to swallow. Still, real or fake, you have to give Aegon credit for being bold, and for being his own man. He's no pushover.
The Sacrifice (Asha): Of all the POV chapter headings, I care for this one the least. It's from Asha's point of view, but they make it immediately clear that she will never be the actual sacrifice. Normally chapter titles that aren't the actual character's names denote some sort of chance in status or personality, but this seems to be far more about what is actually happening in the chapter, which sort of breaks the paradigm for naming. Meh. It's interesting that Arnolf is with Stannis. I think this means a number of things, and I'll skip ahead a bit here to the end, but, Ramsay's letter to Jon later suggests Stannis was killed but Ramsay thinks that Jon has fake-Arya. Well, if Arnolf is supposed to play a part in this killing of Stannis, then he knows that Theon is with Stannis. So, either Ramsay is lying and Stannis is fine, or someone Jon's arrangement with Alys allowed Arnolf to be subverted and he's actually on Stannis' side somehow, and it was all a ploy. Again, I love the love that the northmen are showing for the Starks. I find it highly amusing and annoying all at the same time that the banker from Braavos made it from the Wall to Deepwood to Winterfell and back to Stannis' village in a fraction of the time it took Stannis to get from Deepwood to his little village. It's nice to see that Umber is at Winterfell already, but, what exactly is Stannis doing? Also, I find it just as unlikely that Stannis would either assault Winterfell or foolishly slip up with the Iron Bank of Braavos hanging around offering to help fund his war to retake the Iron Throne. That's a huge game changer. No, something must be off with Ramsay's letter, but we'll have to wait for the next book to find out what. I'm glad to see, despite my burning hatred for him, that Theon has reclaimed his old name. For a character that looked like one of the regular old throwaway minor characters, he's really come a long way, and might even have a nice redemption plot ahead of him, though, I don't think it will at all turn out like Jaime's (yet, the parallels are there).
Victarion: Only a couple interesting points here. 1. Moqorro worked some bad juju magumbo on Victarion's arm, and Victarion, as it turns out, is a pretty easily swayed convert. My how easily the men of Westeros turn into R'hollor puppets when one of the priests do a little magic on them. 2. He's bringing a magic dragon training horn to Meereen. One of the characters mentions the horn, either Dany or one of the Dornishmen, or Tyrion, that the Targaryens of old mastered dragons with magic horns, spells and other means, but all she had was a whip. I think who becomes the master of that horn will be a plot point, of sorts, in the next novel, but how to bloodmaster the horn is an open question. Also, I think the other big horn, the Horn of Joramun, will be a big plot point in the next novel as well.
The Ugly Little Girl (Arya): I'm glad that she gets another chapter before this ends, and now I'm not surprised. Martin is setting up each character to set them off on a new trajectory before the next novel. They aren't all really cliffhangers, per se (except one or two big ones), but they've almost all been given a definite change of pace and direction, which guarantees the next novel will herald a lot of changes. Arya is no different. The scene where she gets her first face is really interesting in a number of ways. The symbolism of literally putting on a new face is obvious. She's been struggling with identity issues for more than a book now, and she treats "Arya" like a past character, rather than her true self, though I think she still holds onto her true identity quite strongly. But this takes it to a new level. And I think whenever the nice man asks her if she'd like to leave, it emphasizes that she's getting deeper and deeper into something that she can't necessarily retreat from, yet, she feels compelled to stay for want of an alternative (even though they've made it clear to her that that's a lousy reason to stay). I have to believe that he defiant streak, and the wolf dreams, will still serve to eventually get her out of there. She has too much of Lyanna's wildness in her to stay penned up. By the way, the way she killed the guy, with the poison coin, was how Pate died, which is why a lot of people think Jaqen is in Oldtown, and that that particular thread will resurface in the next novel. At this point, Arya seems to have been somewhat desensitized to killing, though this one wasn't as face-to-face as others have been. It was kind of nice, despite my reservations, to see her put on the black and white acolyte robes that make her more official. She earned them. But I'm still nervous about where she is going.
Cersei: Yet another chapter of Cersei being humbled. Lovely. The contempt that she shows for Jaime because he isn't as ruthless as she is really shows how little this whole affair has affected her. She hasn't changed at all, instead of remorse she shows resentment. Her walk through the city was just a small piece of what she really deserves. I felt zero sympathy for her. For all the pain she's caused, for all the children who will never see their mothers, and mothers who won't see their children, I was unable to summon up the smallest amount of sympathy for her desire to see Tommen. And by the way, is there anyone here who doesn't think that "Ser Robert Strong" is really Qyburn's Frankenstein version of Gregor Clegane? We know that Qyburn had his body after he died, and we know that he's a total quack black magic mad scientist. And we know that Gregor is the only eight foot tall mountain hanging around. And we know that Robert Strong never takes his armor and helmet off, and never speaks, so what's he hiding? Oh yeah, it's Gregor, and there's gonna be hell to pay. I don't see how she could ever rule again after that walk, but, she can still cause a lot of havoc in her attempts. She'll be interesting next book (and we know she's a POV because Martin mentioned pushing a chapter or two of hers to the next book).
Tyrion: I do find it interesting that eastern society seems to be much more paperwork oriented than western. What I think gets underplayed in all this is that Westeros is basically America (North and South combined, the western hemisphere). Places like the Free Cities and Vayria were old Europe. They have all these old rules, massive monuments and works of man like the Seven Wonders of the World, things that make Tyrion go "wow" when he sees them and realizes that even the coolest parts of Westeros are pretty lame in comparison, like the Great Sept of Baelor. So of course the use nice vellum and ink, even for mercenaries to make deals, because contracts there are binding. Same story with having paved roads and what not. Whereas in Westeros, when Beric Dondarrion gives Sandor a note for the money they took, he views it as basically worthless, whereas in the east, it'd probably be binding. I mean, they have naval insurance for Pete's sake! Martin has done a wonderful job at juxtaposing civilization between the two continents, and the parallels to old/new and colonial/colonizers are really interesting, and you really only find them in small societal details like contracts, where Tyrion says his word is good enough, but they need it signed and notarized. That level of world building is second to none, in my opinion. If he really intends to give away that much money, I have to imagine that would make a pretty serious dent in even Lannister pockets. I know they loaned the crown like hundreds of thousands of dragons, but geez, giving that much has to hurt. It's nice to see Ser Jorah back in good spirits. Also, I think with Tyrion buying off Brown Ben Plumm, we now have a way to rescue the hostages that are in the Yunkish camp. Though, judging from the end of Barristan's next chapter, that might not have gone so well.
By the way, does anyone else find it telling that pretty much every Feast character got at least a mention in this book, to update us on their status, except for Sansa? Seems like even Martin couldn't come up with a way to make her relevant in a chapter or two, so he said screw it and pushed her back.
In my last entry, if the post isn't too long, I'll close with a recap, final thoughts, and predictions. If the next one ends up being too long, I'll do a special post for it.
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