I think
that this is the best of the first three books. We are given so many good
conversations and moments in it that are combined in Game of Thrones seasons 3
and 4 (the best two seasons) that it is just an overwhelmingly good book. I
feel like it is sort of a closing and time of transition that caps the first “trilogy”
of the series very well. AGOT has lots of rising action and feels like the main
set up to the war of the five kings, the emergence of Daenerys Targaryen, and
the rise of the Lannisters in King’s Landing. ACOK is tons of action. The war
is set loose and there is a ton of fighting across Westeros. Jon’s story gets
interesting as he ranges north of the wall. Daenerys is tested in Qarth. The
Battle of the Blackwater! ASOS, then, stands out for its resolution of major
storylines brought of earlier and really feels like the end of the first
section of Martin’s saga. Jon falls in love, breaks his vows, returns to the
watch, and defends the wall. Stannis recovers from his defeat at the Blackwater
and eventually defends the wall from wildling attack. Daenerys conquers
Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen, deciding to stay in Meereen to rule. In the South,
the Lannisters consolidate power, successfully engineering the Red Wedding, and
then fall into internal squabbles when Joffrey is poisoned. Arya gives up on
finding her family and takes a ship to Braavos. Sansa finally escapes King’s
Landing and is now stuck with Littlefinger in the Vale. Things kind of settle
in a way in this book, and it feels like a good conclusion but also a new
beginning for a lot of characters, especially Arya, Daenerys, and Jaime (who is
now in King’s Landing).
Tyrion
has had one of the most interesting journeys in these first three books. In
AGOT, he explores the North and is lucky to escape with his life from the Vale.
He is in King’s Landing throughout the next two books, but in very different
circumstances. In ACOK, before the Battle of the Blackwater, he has power.
Afterwards, in ASOS, he does not. His fall is swift, as his father Tywin’s
return means that he will no longer be the Hand. Tywin trades his sword for a
quill and has even more success writing than he did fighting, orchestrating the
Tyrell alliance and the Red Wedding. Both of them, however, have fallen by the end
of the book, as Tyrion is sentenced to death for killing Joffrey. Tywin allowed
the events to spin out of control under his own nose, and it is his own son who
kills him. The Lannisters begin ASOS as the most powerful house and end it in
disarray. Throughout the book, Tyrion continues to darken and become more estranged
from his family, long before the trial. I felt much more skeptical of his
relationship with Shae in the books than in the show. Maybe it’s only because I
knew what would happen, but I feel like on my initial time going through the
story I had thought that Shae really loved Tyrion. This time around I did not
think so. My last thought on Tyrion and the Lannisters is that it is so weird
how Varys just lets Tyrion go and kill his father, even giving him the
directions on where to go and how to do it. He plays coy but it’s very obvious
he wants Tyrion to do it. I guess Varys already knows it’s time to support the
fall of the Lannisters.
Daenerys
has a great arc in this book, though I think as she becomes more of a conqueror,
she becomes less relatable as a character. She has huge success after success,
but is constantly suspicious of her two chief advisors, Jorah and Barristan.
Now, she has good reason, but it’s a tough book for her personally despite her political
successes. Early on, Jorah kisses her and it’s a weird-ass moment in the book.
She even likes it and then you remember that she is 14-15 and he is like 50.
Gross. I keep trying to imagine that the ages are different because so many
characters are just too young. My headcanon is that years are actually longer
on Planetos and so people are all a little bit older. Something really unique
about her character is that hers is the only POV of someone who is trying to
get the Iron Throne. We sympathize a lot with her character because we get
everything from her point of view, as opposed to Stannis, Renly, Joffrey,
Balon, Robb, or any other claimant of the Iron Throne.
The nature
of the others becomes a lot clearer in this book. First of all, we know that
they are Craster’s sons, as revealed at the very end of Samwell II. We also
learn in Bran IV that the Night’s King was the 13th Lord Commander
of the Night’s Watch, of which Jon Snow is now the 998th commander.
He was a brave warrior who saw a woman “with skin as white as the moon and eyes
like blue stars.” He finds her and they have sex even though “her skin was cold
as ice,” and he impregnates her. He brought her back to the Nightfort and
proclaimed himself King and her Queen and ruled for 13 years with his “corpse
queen” until the Stark in Winterfell and the wildling Joramun (of the famous Horn)
brought him down. He had been sacrificing to the Others, which is interesting,
and his name was forbidden from being mentioned afterwards. Old Nann says he was
thought to have been a Bolton, a Magnar from Skagos, an Umber, a Flint, a Norrey,
or a Woodfoot. However, she says that he was really a Stark, and it was his
brother who killed him. She even says “mayhaps his name was Brandon.” In Jon X,
Mance tells us that “the Others never come when the sun is up.” That makes it
clear I think along with the fact that they are connected to the Night’s King and
the Night’s Watch that the others are creatures of darkness. It seems to me at
this point that the Other is the Others and that the Lord of Light will be led
by Azor Ahai, who seems like Daenarys in this book. However, I don’t think we
have a good idea of who is the good or bad guy, as the Others seem pretty terrible,
but the Old Gods seem nice. It is like a Manichaean struggle without a clear moral
side to be on. It is honestly shocking how little forthright conversation
happens about the Others in this book. Everyone knows about the danger they
represent but there are extremely few conversations about what to do about them.
There
are some important differences that really start to emerge between show and
book. Rhaegar continues to play a huge role in this book, which is a huge
difference from the show, where I think it is possible to watch the entire
thing and come away with only a vague idea about his importance. There is so
much critical conversation of the past, especially the tournament at Harrenhal
and the fate of Ashara Dayne. I think that the characters Margaery, Joffrey,
Alliser Thorne, Oberyn, and Bronn are all much bigger in the show than in the
book and is a credit to the actors who played them for making them so
memorable. Lady Stoneheart, on the other hand, is a critical difference in that
she appears in the Epilogue of this book (the only epilogue so far), but not in
the show.
Things I Noticed:
- Jaime II: When escaping Riverrun with Brienne, they come across a palfrey with a bloodied saddle that had belonged to a Bolton man. It was almost surely one of the men Nymeria attacked earlier on, which we get in one of Arya’s dreams.
- Davos III: Melisandre says that “Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone. The bleeding star has come and gone, and Dragonstone is the place of smoke and salt. Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai reborn!” This clearly has to be Daenerys. The show made Melisandre think that Jon was Lightbringer but seriously… this has to be Daenerys.
- Arya VI: When Arya meets Beric Dondarrion, he is described very similarly to what we will later get for Bloodraven: “The walls were equal parts stone and soil, with huge white roots twisting through them like a thousand slow pale snakes. People were emerging from between those roots as she watched; edging out from the shadows for a look at the captives, stepping from the mouths of pitch-black tunnels, popping out of crannies and crevices on all sides. In one place on the far side of the fire, the roots formed a kind of stairway up to a hollow in the earth where a man sat almost lost in the tangle of weirwood.”
- Jon V: Jon mentions that Ned had wanted to resettle the Gift and called it “a dream for spring,” which we know will be the title of the last book.
- Jaime VI: We get our second mention of Maester Marwyn in the series. First mentioned by Mirri Maz Duur, who had met him in Asshai, now Qyburn brings him up too. This guy will have a role to play.
- Something interesting in this book is how Martin develops Westerosi music. In the previous two book there are definitely mentions of famous songs, but in this book it is constant. I think it is one of the best things about this book that it introduces us to probably a dozen new songs whether by giving us the lyrics or just the name.
- There is definitely a kraken in the Narrow Sea. In Tyrion III, Varys mentions seeing a kraken off the Fingers. In Davos IV, he mentioned that at the Celtigar stronghold of Claw Isle there is “a horn that could summon monster from the deep.” In Davos V, Sallador Saan brings it up.
- The only major information we get on Jon Snow’s parentage comes in Arya VIII, in conversation between Arya and a boy named Edric Dayne, who is the Lord of Starfall. That’s when we learn that Jon was born down south. That connects very well with the geography of the Tower of Joy.
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