Page 382: Answers Merely Breed More Questions

Sorry for the brief delay with this post. Real life took hold of me this week and prevented me from getting to this in as timely a manner as I generally like. This is a shorter post than I'd usually make, but there will be more over the weekend. Also, I'll note that some of these entries will have even more of a stream of consciousness feel to them than normal, on account of the rapidly shifting nature of chapters.

A quick aside before I begin, because Dany's chapter started these thoughts festering: You know, these novels really, really cry out for a pre-quel history book. Where's my Silmarillion? I crave knowledge on the founding of the Seven Kingdoms, the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and maybe most especially, Valyria. What happened to make it fall from prominence? Seems like it was a pretty rockin' place in its heyday with all the cool weapons and regional hegemony. As agonizing as the slow pace of the plot is, the pace with which the back story and history of the world at large moves is best described as glacial. There's no payoff to work towards because it really is just back story, and we don't need it, but I really, really want it. This is what happens when you give a book like this to an historian. I identify heavily with Samwell, because I too want to get into that archives room in Castle Black and just research my heart out. I cheered in the Fellowship of the Ring movie when Gandalf hung out in the archives at Minas Tirith to research The One Ring. On the bright side, Tolkien finished LOTR and died during the Sil, so, for anyone worried about Martin finishing the series, it would seem history is on your side, and yet, against the side of history. I digress.

Daenerys: There's really an interesting take on morality in this chapter. Considering all the crap that people do to each other in Westeros, I'm actually shocked that slaving is really so abhorred. I mean, raping, pillaging, wanton murder and destruction, but slavery? No! That's a bridge too far! Frankly I'm actually thrown into a little bit of disarray at the notion, because it's just so hard to believe that a society that has such a tenuous grasp on any sort of appreciation or value for basic human life could be that wedded to the idea that slavery is actually on a different plane. Don't get me wrong, I think slavery is on a different plane, but, generally you get over the wanton killing before you get over slavery. The sexualization of Dany has at times been an odd journey, but, it's interesting to see how confused she becomes. Seems age appropriate (relative to the world she grew up in). The fact that a voice in her head tells her to push Ser Jorah away, and yet a baser instinct wants to pull him closer. Again though, these recent chapters have served to remind me all the more how young these characters are, which is making some of this a little disturbing really. If everyone was just a couple years older, the ick factor would be greatly reduced. So many kids trying to be adults, and they meet with such wildly varying degrees of success.

Dany Part 2: Okay, I don't believe for a second that she'd actually sell one of her dragons, regardless of the army she's getting for it. She roundly rejected the idea that last dozen times it was offered, and the rewards for such an offer were equal. They offered her a massive fleet and army when she was in Qarth, but now she wants these soldiers she just heard about five minutes ago, especially when she deplores slavery, so she's willing to ditch a dragon. Nope. On the other hand, very interesting to find out that valar morghullis means "all men must die." First off, totally sounds Sindarin. Actually, it is Sindarin, for anyone familiar with Tolkien language, the valar were the gods who created the world, and morgul means "black sorcery." I'm willing to believe that it's a total coincidence though, given the fact that there's absolutely no connection meaning wise. Either way, that's an ominous as all hell code word for Jaqen to give Arya. Is he part of some secret order? Is it a trap? Anyway back to Dany, yeah, the slave revolt thing is no surprise at all. It's a little weird that it was so incredibly simple. I can see that some might look at Dany as a bit of a hero here. She "liberated" a slave army, and fans of Dany might want to say "She was never going to sell a dragon, and the only reason she even went there was to free the slaves because she hates slavery so much." I think the first part is true, she was never going to sell a dragon, but Dany wasn't acting altruistically. She needed an army, and now she has one. It's not like she set them all free, and apparently the plot has made it impossible for her to set them free since they have no will of their own, though I will say that I sort of appreciate them having built-in rape deterrence.

Bran: I wonder the story behind Meera's story is? IS the boy Howland Reed? Is the girl Lyanna? Why is this significant? Like the old woman in the woods or the dreams or any of a dozen other tiny stories that get dropped on us and then forgotten, I refuse to believe that this chapter was just filler. One of the few rules of this series seems to be is: There are no idle prophesies and there are no idle stories. They don't all come true, but they're all significant.

Davos: Okay, so we get a little more information on how the shadow creatures that Melisandre employs are created. It seems to be some sort of theft of a person's life energy that creates them? That would explain the physical effects that this has on Stannis, as well as the fact that the shadow took Stannis' form, but doesn't seem to impart any actual knowledge to him of his direct role in the acts. It's a little sad, but also somewhat stereotypical to see Davos falling so easily and so quickly to Melisandre's religious lures. He was never a really religious man to begin with, but he seems to represent tradition as much as anything else, which is why he'd naturally reject it. And yet, Davos truly believed that one of his seven gods spoke directly to him when he was on that island. I really hope that Melisandre's god isn't the only one who will take an active role in what is to come.

Jon: I'm going to name his chapter: "Close your eyes and think of England." Just do it for the team there buddy. Ha ha. You know, part of me wants to be annoyed or disappointed with Jon for so fluidly talking himself into doing what he really wants to do anyway, and for letting himself down as well since those vows were so important to him (though, I'm not letting him off the hook for using Eddard's fling with his mother as a justification, that was low), but I'm giving him a pass for this one for a variety of reasons. First off, Jon is still only sixteen, and a virgin. He was totally unprepared to give up a temptation without even fully understanding what it was he was giving up. One of the characters who counseled him before he took his vows named that very worry. Might have been Benjen. Another thing I'm going to give him a pass on is the fact that it would appear that most of the Night's Watch slips off into that town just south of the wall for a little pick me up from time to time. I'm not even sure if the vows really say you have to be abstinent, they just mean you can't get married or have kids. His moral quandary, for the moment, doesn't really seem that dire, but this is a gateway vow! The fact is that Jon was the one who thought it was part of his vows, and he talked himself out of it very quickly. It's a slippery slope, and where does he draw the line? As an aside, I think this is a perfect example of unfair expectations of the character. Is it really fair to actually expect Jon to hold up that strongly against all the temptations around him at his age and his inexperience? We expect that of our heroes, but these novels are niggardly with their heroes, both in the paltry number of them, and in the rewards those few actually get. It's the same feeling that causes me to be so disappointed in any and all of the Stark kids, because I expect so much out of them, but those aren't realistic expectations.

Up next: Sansa and more.