Page 1128: Pulling the Trigger

Jaime: A final confirmation that it was a fake Renly, despite the fact that it was pretty apparent anyway. It's amazing how many plots we find out later that Littlefinger was behind all along. Some of that's a little shifty because we had no indications of it previously, and he doesn't seem evil yet, per se. I don't know what he wants. Control of all of Westeros? Just the Vale? It's interesting how thoroughly cut off from his family Jaime is now, especially Cersei, and that he's done enough soul searching to openly admit how different a person he is now, especially in his comparison between himself when he was younger and Loras now.

Sansa: So it wasn't Dontos. "Clean hands Sansa, whatever you do, make certain your hands are clean." My, but you are a clever one. Clean and dirty hands are one of the many recurring images and themes in the novels. This is contrasted with the fact that Arya gets her hands most certainly dirty numerous times. Arya in fact had to deal with the clean/dirty binary directly when she temporarily used Jaqen as her angel of death, and the guilt she felt at that, but she's also done plenty of her own killing, just as she feels she should. Sansa meanwhile has gotten an education from Littlefinger and the Lannisters in killing from afar using people as pieces. I'm pretty sure that being spirited away by Littlefinger is out of the frying pan and into the fire for her. She's being passed around from man to man, and none of them want her for her, but only for her title to Winterfell. Still, I suppose she's in less danger of actually being killed.

Jon: I suppose things were just going too well for Jon, so having Slynt and Thorne come in to ruin Jon's day just makes sense.

Tyrion: Damn, well, that's just the final indignity from Shae. I knew she was a gold digger, and I don't believe for a second that she was coerced into saying that, especially given the fact that she's traded up to Tywin's bed chamber. She was really quite good at fooling Tyrion, who for all his tricks and cunning wears his heart on his sleeve, to his detriment. I kind of wonder of the Viper means to trick Tyrion, but no, it looks like he really wants revenge on Gregor. What would happen if both the Viper and Clegane died? I feel bad for Oberyn. He had the win, he had his vengeance, but his overconfidence and carelessness got him in the end. Tyrion should known better than to trust someone who was that emotionally invested in the fight.

Daenerys: Sucks about Jorah, but Selmy is probably better in the long run since he's not as emotionally compromised. Now Jorah can return to Westeros to make an appearance later, and perhaps he'll even head to the Wall and find Sam. I'm glad she decided to stay in Meereen. Frankly, she needs some queen and governance training if she hopes to be taken seriously when she gets to Westeros. I kind of hope that there's almost a little break between this and the next book. Like a year passes or something. Given how it ends, there isn't a single plot line that is in the midst of something and can't be left to idle until taken up again. I think when she opens the gates of Meereen to march west, things are really going to be interesting, and I look forward to it. Also, given what the last Dance of Dragons was about, I have to wonder if it will mean another civil war with dragons, and who will have the other one. Jon?

Jaime: Seriously, this is my favorite individual chapter of the entire book. He feels ashamed of what he did to Bran at Winterfell. And Jaime even named what I commented on awhile ago; that the Lannisters won the war, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. They've been their own undoing. I hope we eventually learn the fate of Ice's other half, the sword that was supposed to go to Joff. I'd love to see them reunited some day. I'm glad that, in a way, Oathbreaker is going into the service of the Starks in Brienne's hands. Jaime is really pushing this chapter to be the comeback character of the year. And damn him, he's turning into my favorite character archetype. I love sympathetic bad guys, but he's going even beyond that into a sort of anti-hero. He's still Jaime, and that involves some rough edges, but his world has done a 180. Cersei was a bitch to him, and perhaps he realizes now that they're connection is broken. Tywin disowned him, his monster of a son is dead. All that's left is honor, and everything he has done since leaving Harrenhall has been about honor (well, with a couple exceptions, but those were the last little bits that pushed him over the edge).

Jon: Well that's just bizarre. What the hell would Stannis be doing sailing for the Wall? Does he intend to take the north, or will Melisandre throw down the Wall and use the ASZs as her own personal undead army?

Arya: Oh good, Polliver and the Tickler make a return. Excellent chance for her to get her sword back. I almost don't know what to do with this chapter, except to say it was a hell of a read. Arya has certainly changed. She killed the Tickler in a rage, and also, I think she clearly exhibited signs of PTSD. It reminded me of a combination of the scene in Babylon 5 where Sheridan is tortured by the Alliance, and the scene in Star Trek: TNG when Picard is taken captive by the Cardassians ("there are four lights!"). The repetition of the Tickler's interrogative questions while she stabbed him was a strong, powerful image. She killed the boy shortly afterward, but I don't think out of cruelty so much as a kindness. That same kindness was not extended to the Hound, but part of me wonders if perhaps at that point he didn't deserve it. I think he regretted killing Mycah, or at least regretted that he killed him because Joffrey lied about it. Certainly he's not a nice person, but he's done a fair bit of good since then, at least to Arya. Perhaps he earned a quicker death. Leaving him to die, and leaving the money she could have used with him really emphasizing a growing coldness in Arya. But it's not the coldness we saw in Jaime at the beginning. It's the cold of the north; a Stark coldness. Though I will say that I was a bit unnerved by the fact that her first response to the woman she sells her horse too is an annoyance that she can't just kill the woman and take her money. I wish she could have gone to the north to meet up with Jon. I'm sad that she's so much harder than she was, but, she's nowhere near slipping into Joffrey crazy funtime land. And what the hell is that coin that Jaqen gave her? What does it mean when said in combination with "Valar morghullis?" What is she getting herself into? Is she selling herself into slavery or is she whispering the words of a secret brotherhood? And of course this is her last chapter, so I bet we don't even find out in Feast. Part of me thinks that it's some sort of secret order in Braavos, but I guess it can't be too secret if every Braavosi will respond to it. So Jaqen must be some sort of powerful authority figure in Braavos.Either way, I can't wait to see what happens with her.

Sam: Interesting that he was sword to secrecy even from telling Jon. By the way, it sucks that that last Bran chapter was the last. Talk about a cliffhanger. Martin has done a fantastic job of leading most of our favorite characters to their natural ends...and then not giving us the payoff! That's great though. It means when we finally do get it, it's going to be a sweet, sweet read. The politics of choosing a Lord Commander are interesting. Slynt would be an awful choice, but it looks like either 1. Jon will emerge as a consensus candidate, or 2. Something out of the blue will happen like a murder or Stannis stepping in to choose for them.

Jon: Good for Davos! That must have been a hell of a speech that he wrote. I hope that Stannis didn't kill him anyway. Certainly we've seen that Stannis is willing to punish and reward in the same breath, and I hope that he didn't decide to kill him and heed his advice. I would think that if Davos didn't come with Stannis, and is alive, he's either back ruling Dragonstone, or he's somewhere else in the north gathering support for Stannis. I hope. I'm kind of worried that some idiot will blow the Horn of Winter, perhaps deriding it as a superstition. But, I also wonder if that's really the horn, and if it still isn't the horn that Jon found in the shallow grave. I would still love it if Benjen really found it, hid it there, and actually knows a great deal more than he's letting on. I have to say, it's a pretty damned clever plan of Stannis'. It's not even evil or really bad. I think he's nuts usually, but I also think he's the "rightful" king so far as things go. Repopulating the Gift would give a lot of added strength to a depleted north, and would really reinforce the Wall, to say nothing of helping Stannis's legitimacy (though I can't imagine the Karstarks or Umbers would enjoy a wilding horde at their gates). On the other hand, I think Jon would make a fantastic rule of Winterfell, but not at the price of burning the weirwood. I think the novels are designed to make us want to see the old gods prevail in some way, and I'm all for it. It's something old and sacred. His price is too high.

Tyrion: Escape to the Free Cities eh? Well, between Arya, Tyrion and Daenerys, we'll have a lot of characters across the water. This is yet another bone-shattering chapter in its emotional punishment. That was an extremely harsh conversation to have with Jaime. Jaime saved your life, so far as you know, he freed you, he fessed up to something that wasn't even really a huge sin of his personally. It was the sin of his father, and it was committed under duress. Why did you have to tell him you killed Joffrey? I hope the truth comes out. I expect the next time it would even come up is perhaps if Sansa meets up with Jaime somehow and tells him the truth, but I'm not sure how likely that will be. As far as Tywin and Shae go? Shae had it coming. She was an opportunistic gold digger from the start that was using him, playing with his emotions, and then sold him out at the drop of a hat. Maybe she didn't deserve death per se, but she didn't seem too broken up that she helped to send Tyrion to the gallows. Tywin deserved what was coming to him. In the end he died with his family in disarray, mostly at his own hands. It was merely a twist of the knife that shock rode so freely on his face when Tyrion pulled the trigger. He never really knew or understood Tyrion, Jaime, or Cersei. He either under or overestimated all of them, and it cost him his life. Well, that and a hundred other sins he committed.

Sam: Why Sam, you sneak underhanded little thing you. If Sam returns in Dance, I'd like to see him fleshed out more as a character. To me he falls more into the Catelyn/Davos vein of characters; there to act  mostly as a mouthpiece for a plot point rather than as his own individually fleshed out character. And that sucks, because I feel like all three of them could have been excellent character if given the chance. Maybe next time buddy.

Jon: Huzzah! Ghost is back! And he's the Lord Commander! Stannis' plans are somewhat foiled, and it'll be riveting to see how he responds to that. He can't punish Jon because it was the Night's Watch who chose without his consent, so really, becoming the Lord Commander was his only way out of the proposal. It's going to be fascinating to see how he responds to this change, and what other surprises the north has in store for us beyond-the-wall!

Sansa: You know, I like this Sansa. She's alive, and brave. She really belongs in the north. I know she wanted so very much to go south to the glamor of court, and she still harbors those fantasies, but within the walls of Winterfell, she's a completely different and far more likable person. And wow, talk about bombs being dropped in these last 200 pages: Lysa killed Jon and set this whole thing into motion?! What a nut case. And he just pushed her over the edge? (heh, see what I did there?) Now Petyr is free to take Sansa as Cat reborn, and somehow he'll try to claim the Vale as Robert's regent. But I don't see how. We've already established that the Royce's are up in arms, and they're already pissed that he's there. He can't force Sansa as a wife with her still married to Tyrion, so how does he get out of this? I suspect he already has more plots afoot.

Epilogue: That's insane! We saw her dead through Nymeria's eyes! How the hell could this possible be explained? More magic?

Alright. Seriously that was a slam bang finish to a great book. The shocking thing is that so many questions were answered, and so many stories went exactly where I wanted them to go, like Jon taking over the Wall, and Arya heading to Braavos (though I still want to see her with Nymeria!), but now we have to wait so long to find out what happens. And Jaime's total 180 as a character is a shocker. With Tywin gone, who pulls the strings in King's Landing? Does Cersei really rise to power as the rule of everything with Tywin gone and Tommen still a toddler? Where does this leave Jaime? What new characters will have to arise with two southern characters removed and the entire north as well? Will we see into Cersei's eyes now? Brienne's? Littelfinger's? Someone new entirely? What will happen to Riverrun? What will happen in the Vale? What will happen between the Tyrells and the Martels? With Oberyn dead, will Dorne declare independence and crown Myrcella? And those are just my questions for the south!

I loved this book, and I love how it ended. While the wait will be maddening (though really, given the size constraints of Dance, you'd think he'd be done with it in 2011), I think only having the south to contend with in Feast will be just fine given what is going on with these characters. I have to say though that there will be about a two-week break before I start on the next book. I'm taking the GRE a week from Tuesday, and a flurry of crash studying is going to take place this week. After I do that and get caught up on home work, I'll punch up Amazon and have Feast sent on its merry way. There's no way in hell I'll order it before then though, as I know I'll be sucked in.

I suppose it's open season on anything that doesn't involve Feast now. Anything north of the Freys and east of Westeros is open for discussion to any willing participants.