A Game of Thrones – Chapter Eighteen: Catelyn
Reminders:
- Page numbers based off Kindle edition.
- No spoiling me; I will edit/delete any.
- I don’t avoid spoilers.
- My citation format is not necessarily accurate, but it works for me.
I appreciate that some people may be turned off by this constant ‘pre-blog’ notification. I choose to respect that some people may not have read these books before, like I hadn’t and so make the effort to not spoil them unless they go to the post page. I figure if you really want to be here, reading, you’ll ignore it.
I like this proactive Catelyn. I suspect her proactiveness will result in death, but I kind of think it’s better to die doing something than to live doing nothing…
I also like Ser Rodrik, if only for the current display of awareness of his faults. I hope he can be trusted.
That this Littlefinger, Petyr is mentioned… I fear not all will go well with him. Catelyn hopes for him to be an ally, or so I suspect, and that alone makes me think he will not be. Given that he was, at one time, desirous of the Lady Catelyn, I would not be surprised if he would arrange for Ned’s death so he could marry her now.
I approve of Ser Rodrik’s plan. “Protect the summoner, even at the cost of one’s life.”1
…Moreo is an asshole, and one who thieves from his oarsmen, in my opinion.
So Catelyn is as safe as she can be made, and Ser Rodrik will fetch Ser Aron. This is gonna go to hell in a handbasket, isn’t it?
So Littlefinger has decided to fetch her. What of Ser Rodrik? And what exactly has Moreo got to do with the situation? Yes, Catelyn is more than likely right to suspect he sold her out, but is that all he did? Did he waylay Ser Rodrilk, perhaps?
So Littlefinger uses flowery phrases to say “All the people who this should have gone to were elsewhere, and I was the best of a bad lot”. *snickers*
*shudders* This Varys squicks me out. He is… slimy and… *shudders more*
…does this dagger truly belong to Tyrion, by right of a gamble Littlefinger lost? Because that smells of a setup, a lie to protect Jaime.
Although the idea that Tyrion might have decided to have Bran killed, either for his own reasons or because he is protecting his siblings is kind of interesting as well…
1. Square Co (May 17th, 2002). Final Fantasy X. Playstation 2.
I, too, like this proactive streak in Cat. She’s not going to sit idle and wait while her family is in danger – and where Ser Rodrik (who, bless his heart, might swing a good sword but is a bit bumbling) protects her at the cost of his own life, she protects her family at the cost of hers.
Onwards to the slimy people!
Varys is slimy and shifty – and he knows it. He banks on it; he plays it up around certain people, and tones it down around others. Always, ALWAYS assume Varys knows everything. Even things whispered only to yourself in the middle of the night. Those little birds of his really are everywhere. As always with GRRM, he starts Varys out as a one-dimensional slimeball – the quintessential grand vizier stereotype – but puts some real depth and complexity into him as he goes along. There’s a lot more to Varys than the slimeball exterior lets on.
Then there’s Littlefinger. See, most authors would have set up this court intrigue arrangement with a bunch of people whose motivations aren’t entirely clear, and then ONE guy/girl who is CLEARLY the spider in the web of all things. GRRM goes one step further, and gives us not only Varys, but Littlefinger.
And if we assume Varys knows everything – assume Littlefinger is not telling the truth. Maybe it’s white lies, maybe it’s lies by omission, maybe it’s bald-faced lies – but always assume there’s something he’s not honest about*. He is definitely not an objective voice in this particular issue; Cat’s his childhood friend AND his first love, and she’s in dire straits. She needs his help, and he has every reason to give it to her – but at what price?
So. Does the dagger belong to Tyrion? Maybe. Does this mean Tyrion was involved in the attempted murder of Bran? Possibly. Do we – based on Littlefingers testimony of the ownership of the dagger – now know who sent the assassin to Winterfell? Not in the slightest.
*)There are exceptions to this rule, IMHO, but they are very specific, and may or may not involve Littlefinger deluding himself to some extent. Also, these become more obvious later – at which point I can, and probably will, babble on about them for ages.
After reading your fine points, I would not be sad to see Varys or Littlefinger die.
Eeeh, don’t hold your breath – these are conspiracy masterminds we’re dealing with. They run mental rings around pretty much everyone.
… Which isn’t to say they don’t get in trouble. This is ASOIAF. *Everybody* could die at any point.
Ooh, I like Varys. In the sense of “I don’t trust him AT ALL, but man is he an interesting character to read about. And how the heck did he know THAT?” 😉 Of course, knowledge is power, which makes him one of the most dangerous people at court.
Littlefinger…now he’s a piece of work. Childhood crush on Catelyn, holding all the cards, and he knows a lot more about the mysterious dagger than she does…how can that possibly go wrong?
Catelyn has good intentions, but she’s stepped into a vipers’ nest here. She’s more pragmatic about politics than Ned (who you KNOW would have gone straight to the Red Keep and not even bothered trying to send secret messages), but she’s still badly outgunned. But she’s also very motivated — her children are everything to her.
So…conflict! Dun dun dun…
I’m very eager to see how this plays out.