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insaneshane · 2 years

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Firstly! In light of the new show, I'll rate and review Game of Thrones / House of Dragons weapons and armour!

(Disclaimer, I am not educated on armour and weaponry in any professional sense, this is simply my opinion given the studies I've done on my own)

My ratings will be realism (how practical they are in the real world), appeal (how much I like them / how likely I would be to use them), and overall.

Daemon's armour, HoD S1:E1

I do not like it. The armour itself, okay, maybe. (I'm assuming every sword and armour piece is of high quality regardless of its appearance.) The pauldrons sit a bit high for my taste, and honestly come down a bit low for mobility sake. I'd like to see him tough the top of his head.

Speaking of his head, that helmet is...a choice to be sure. No only is he wearing an open faced helmet *in a jousting tourney*, the wings would add so much unnecessary weight. I just know his neck is sore after this. Not to mention it's simply ugly (imo). Also, wings *and* a plume? C'mon man, there's a such thing as too much.

Realism: 3/10

Appeal: 4/10

Overall: 3/10

Daemon's sword, "Dark Sister"

(Sorry it's so blurry)

As far as swords go, it's not bad. The wings on the cross guard (I guess he likes wings [I'm kidding I know he's literally from the house of dragons]) don't really take away from the functionality of the sword, so I'll let those slide. Other than that, the blade is surprisingly simple for what we've seen of the character.

Realism: 8/10

Appeal: 6.5/10

Overall: 7/10

Viserys I's Sword, "Blackfyre"

Honestly, the blade I have no quarrels with. It's a solid design, holds up in reality, it's been used irl before, so it's hard to go wrong here. The hilt is where I start running into problems.

The pommel is a bit large imo, I'd prefer a smaller one, but that's personal opinion. Objectively, I'd say it's fine. My real concern is the half circle piece where the tang meets the cross guard. I'm assuming it's a decorative piece to resemble wings, but the spines on the end of the it would cause a problem for me. I think it should either be removed, or smoothed out.

And my last problem is with the ends of the wrist guard. I don't mind that they turn point ninety degrees, I don't like the design. It looks like a snake head with its mouth open, and it looks as though it could catch in something. However, none of the things would greatly affect the overall functionality of the sword.

Realism: 7.5/10

Appeal: 4/10

Overall: 7/10

Okay onto Game of Thrones

Kingsguard Armour

Obviously it looks nice, but it's waaaay too flashy. For me, that is. The thing is, it makes sense. For a whole army? No, they'd never put this much effort into that much armour. But for a handful of people that the royal court will see often, yeah, they'd want them to look nice.

Here's a *real* set of armour from the 1500's

(Probably) King Henry VIII of England's

And another, King Henry II's, also 1500's

Honestly, one could argue that the Kingsguard Armour is *less* flashy than these, so I can forgive the flair on it. The only concern I have is the scales. The tips would definitely burr, and the catch on any bit of cloth that flew by, (including a lord or lady passing by). However, since the kingsguard don't really go to war unless the king does, their armour likely won't see much damage, so I'll let the scales slide too.

Realism: 7/10 (diminished for the scale mail [thats not to say scale mail isn't/wasn't a thing, will discuss in separate post])

Appeal: 10/10

Overall: 8/10

Lannister Armour

It looks to be heavily inspired by eastern armour, but it looks to be some good armour honestly. At first I was concerned about the pauldrens, but then I found this, which was funnily enough also owned by King Henry II

The helmet is, well, it's simply terrible. Since it opens up so much at the bottoms, there's no way to stop what I call "bobble head syndrome." In actual combat, it would definitely become a hindrance rather than protection. Plus, hinged eye cover? It's creative, but I'm not a fan.

Armour

Realism: 8/10

Appeal: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Helmet is zeros across the board.

The last armour I'll address from Game of Thrones, Brienne of Tarth's black armour

What can I say? I love it! I'm a simple lad,, I like simple armour. And I see that mail underneath with cloth padding. Amazing armour honestly. Plenty of protection, great mobility, and it still looks nice.

I'm also particularly fond of it because creators need to see that women's armour doesn't need to have boobs.

Realism: 10/10

Appeal: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Okay on to swords!

Starting with the most popular, "Longclaw"

Ordinarily, I'd disagree with the etching on the blade, but in universe is had an explanation so I'll allow it. Don't get me wrong, if you want to personalize your weapon, go for it, but from a practical stand point, they're not gonna engrave everyone weapon. However, valyrian steel automatically does that, so it gets a pass.

I think it's strange that the handle is so short when the blade is so long? I'd barely put the grip at a hand and a half, and it sits at *thirty-nine inches*. Now, it has three fullers, so the weight wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but I still think the proportions are off.

I like the pommel, it's a tasteful kind of ornamentation, my only thing is I would have the wolf head point with the edge if the blade, not the flat of it. I feel like that would feel awkward.

Realism: 8/10

Appeal: 6.5/10

Overall: 7/10

Sorry I need to make a part two!

#swords #game of thrones #ratings #review #armour #house of dragons #john snow #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #king henry viii #long post

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wodania · 2 months

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“He’s me, Jaime realized suddenly. I am speaking to myself, as I was, all cocksure arrogance and empty chivalry. This is what it does to you, to be too good too young,” jaime viii, a storm of swords

Ser Loras Tyrell of the Kingsguard

#my angry teenage freak #loras tyrell #asoiaf #my art #extra tags:#fanart #artists on tumblr #art #digital art #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf art #asoiaf fanart #house tyrell #kingsguard #a storm of swords

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deathless--aphrodite · 19 days

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Jaime + Brienne + unbidden

Jaime I, AFFC / Jenny Xie, Distance Sickness / George Cochran Lambdin, The Consecration / Brienne II, AFFC / Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Memory of One Day in a Kitchen / John Bauer, If someone else cries when you laugh then you will have your tears back / Jaime I, ADWD / Jack Gilbert, The Sixth Meditation: Faces of God / Anne-Louis Girodet, The Funeral of Atala / Brienne III, AFFC / Audre Lorde, Movement Song / Richard Bergh, Nordic summer’s evening / Jaime I, AFFC / Sally Rooney, Normal People / John Everett Millais, Huguenot lovers on St. Bartholomew’s Day / Brienne VIII, AFFC / Arundhati Roy, The End of Imagination / Gregory Hildebrandt, My Thanks To You / Jaime VI, ASOS / Frank Bidart, To The Dead / William Hatherall, The Battle Between King Arthur and Sir Mordred

#jaime x brienne #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #web weaving #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #long post

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amber-laughs · 6 months

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Jon and Catelyn: The Accidental Progeny

Survival

Catelyn saw the shadow slip through the open door behind him. There was a low rumble, less than a snarl, the merest whisper of a threat, but he must have heard something, because he started to turn just as the wolf made its leap. They went down together, half sprawled over Catelyn where she'd fallen. The wolf had him under the jaw. The man's shriek lasted less than a second before the beast wrenched back its head, taking out half his throat. A Game of Thrones - Catelyn III

And suddenly the corpse's weight was gone, its fingers ripped from his throat. It was all Jon could do to roll over, retching and shaking. Ghost had it again. He watched as the direwolf buried his teeth in the wight's gut and began to rip and tear. A Game of Thrones - Jon VII

Reassurance

Her hand groped beneath her cloak, her fingers stiff and fumbling. The dagger was still at her side. She found she had to touch it now and then, to reassure herself. A Game of Thrones - Catelyn IV

He flexed the burned fingers of his sword hand. Longclaw was slung to his saddle, the carved stone wolf's-head pommel and soft leather grip of the great bastard sword within easy reach. A Storm of Swords - Jon II

Family

His mouth tightened. "And you see fit to loose the Kingslayer. You had no right." "I had a mother's right."

“You wanted a way to save your little sister and still hold fast to the honor that means so much to you, to the vows you swore before your wooden god." She pointed with a pale finger. "There he stands, Lord Snow. Arya's deliverance.” A Dance with Dragons - Melisandre I

Vengeance

"Give me Cersei Lannister, Lord Karstark, and you would see how gentle a woman can be," Catelyn replied. A Game of Thrones - Catelyn XI

"It's death and destruction I want to bring down upon House Lannister, not scorn." A Dance with Dragons - Jon II

Pain

When Loras Tyrell unhorsed him, many of us became a trifle poorer. Ser Jaime lost a hundred golden dragons, the queen lost an emerald pendant, and I lost my knife. Her Grace got the emerald back, but the winner kept the rest." "Who?" Catelyn demanded, her mouth dry with fear. Her fingers ached with remembered pain. A Clash of Kings - Catelyn IV

Ser Barristan had been the Old Bear's best hope, Jon remembered; if he had fallen, what chance was there that Mormont's letter would be heeded? He curled his hand into a fist. Pain shot through his burned fingers. "What of my sisters?" A Game of Thrones - Jon VIII

Intuition

"Robb." She stopped and held his arm. "I told you once to keep Theon Greyjoy close, and you did not listen. Listen now. Send this man away. I am not saying you must banish him. Find some task that requires a man of courage, some honorable duty, what it is matters not… but do not keep him near you." A Storm of Swords - Catelyn II

All of a man's crimes were wiped away when he took the black, and all of his allegiances as well, yet he found it hard to think of Janos Slynt as a brother. There is blood between us. This man helped slay my father and did his best to have me killed as well. "Lord Janos." Jon sheathed his sword. "I am giving you command of Greyguard." A Dance with Dragons - Jon II

Inheritance

"That is as cruel as it is unfair. Jon is no Theon." "So you pray. Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the north must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa... your own sister, trueborn… " A Storm of Swords - Catelyn V

I had hoped to bestow Winterfell on a northman, you may recall. A son of Eddard Stark. He threw my offer in my face." Stannis Baratheon with a grievance was like a mastiff with a bone; he gnawed it down to splinters. "By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa." A Dance with Dragons - Jon I

Peace

"Wars need not be fought until the last drop of blood." Even she could hear the desperation in her voice. "You would not be the first king to bend the knee, nor even the first Stark." […] Robb's face was cold. "Is that why you freed the Kingslayer? To make a peace with the Lannisters?" "I freed Jaime for Sansa's sake . . . and Arya's, if she still lives. You know that. But if I nurtured some hope of buying peace as well, was that so ill?" A Storm of Swords - Catelyn IV

"If it please m'lord, the lads were wondering. Will it be peace, m'lord? Or blood and iron?" "Peace," Jon Snow replied. "Three days hence, Tormund Giantsbane will lead his people through the Wall. As friends, not foes. Some may even swell our ranks, as brothers. Now back to your duties." A Dance with Dragons - Jon XI

Fear

In the midst of slaughter, the Lord of the Crossing sat on his carved oaken throne, watching greedily. There was a dagger on the floor a few feet away. Perhaps it had skittered there when the Smalljon knocked the table off its trestles, or perhaps it had fallen from the hand of some dying man. Catelyn crawled toward it. Her limbs were leaden, and the taste of blood was in her mouth. A Storm of Swords - Catelyn VII

Men were screaming. Jon reached for Longclaw, but his fingers had grown stiff and clumsy. Somehow he could not seem to get the sword free of its scabbard. A Dance with Dragons - Jon XIII

Death

"Make an end," and a hand grabbed her scalp just as she'd done with Jinglebell, and she thought, No, don't, don't cut my hair, Ned loves my hair. Then the steel was at her throat, and its bite was red and cold. A Storm of Swords - Catelyn VII

Pain washed over him. Stick them with the pointy end. When the third dagger took him between the shoulder blades, he gave a grunt and fell face-first into the snow. He never felt the fourth knife. Only the cold… A Dance with Dragons - Jon XIII

Resurrection

“Sometimes she felt as though her heart had turned to stone.” A Game of Thrones - Catelyn VI

“Instead, he blamed Jon Snow and wondered when Jon's heart had turned to stone.” A Feast for Crows - Samwell III

#that one girl who really doesn't play about jon and catelyn #they mean so much to me I think she's his most defining relationship #asoiaf meta #Catelyn tully #catelyn stark #jon snow #Valyrian scrolls #asoiaf #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf parallels #valyrianscrol #lady stoneheart

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dontbotherwiththepronunciation · 5 months

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"It is Arya of House Stark who chews on her lip whenever she is thinking. Are you Arya of House Stark?" - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

She bit her lip. "You may not recall, my lord, as I was littler then . . . but I had the honor to meet you at Winterfell when King Robert came to visit my father Lord Eddard." She lowered her big brown eyes and mumbled, "I'm Arya Stark." - Jaime IX, ASOS

"It won't be no beating, oh, no. I won't lay a finger on you. I'll just save you for the Qohorik, yes I will, I'll save you for the Crippler. Vargo Hoat his name is, and when he gets back he'll cut off your feet." - Arya VIII, ACOK

"Tell him, you tell him. I'll do what he wants … whatever he wants … with him or … or with the dog or … please … he doesn't need to cut my feet off, I won't try to run away, not ever, I'll give him sons, I swear it, I swear it …" - Theon, ADWD

The direwolf was the sigil of the Starks, but Arya felt more a lamb, surrounded by a herd of other sheep. She hated the villagers for their sheepishness, almost as much as she hated herself. - Arya VI, ACOK

It was the girl who held them here, Lord Eddard's blood, but the girl was just a mummer's ploy, a lamb in a direwolf's skin. - A Ghost in Winterfell, ADWD

'Why did you make your people lambs, when the world is full of wolves?' - Barristan I, TWOW

#jeyne poole #Arya stark #asoiaf #speaking

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turtle-paced · 4 months

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Anonymous asked (edited for length, sorry anon):

Hi, I assume you've talked about this before, about Cersei's prophecy. In the end it says that another queen will arrive, younger and more beautiful, who will take everything from her. The word everything has always caught my attention as if it means much more than it seems (if that makes sense). That part has always seemed strange to me because Cersei already lost Tywin, Joffrey, we know that Myrcella and Tommen are going to die but for different reasons and circumstances and I highly doubt that both deaths are related to this new queen that the prophecy speaks of. What I mean is that Cersei already lost her children and father before this new queen, so what does she have left to lose?

Here's the exact wording.

Malice gleamed in Maggy's yellow eyes. "Queen you shall be ... until there comes another, younger and more beautiful, to cast you down and take all that you hold dear. Cersei VIII, AFFC

Now. There's more here than just Cersei's future sucking. Cersei has broken into Maggy's tent, woken her from sleep by kicking her bed, demanded free labour performed now, and threatened her with a whipping if she doesn't. Maggy's not sugarcoating anything. And it's a deeply cynical prophecy.

So what I think is: radically pare down what this "all" is Cersei holds dear. Don't take Cersei at her word when she thinks of the things she values, either - she is utterly allergic to self-reflection; she's not questioning the nature of her personal relationships and how she's behaved in them over the years.

It's not her kids that matter to her, not as people of their own. It's not Jaime she loves. It's the access to power they bring her.

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #cersei lannister #a feast for crows

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ilynpilled · 1 year

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ACoK - Bran VII

ADwD - Daenerys II

ASoS - Jaime IX

AFfC - Brienne VII

AFfC - Samwell IV

AGoT - Jon VIII

“asoiaf is nihilistic and grimdark” absolutely not.

#asoiaf #bran stark #daenerys targaryen #jaime lannister #brienne of tarth #samwell tarly #jon snow #aemon targaryen #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf meta #long post #sort of #so sick of twitter and this discourse

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rohanneofcoldmoat · 2 years

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I love the little quirks of speech grrm gives all of his POV characters. Some of my favorites are

1 - Jaime and his monopoly on the word "goggled"

Ser Cleos goggled, mouth open. - ASOS Jaime I It was not until Qyburn and Steelshanks added their voices that a head finally appeared on the battlements above them. He goggled down at them, then vanished. - ASOS Jaime VI

2 - Sansa's love of the word "tummy" - which only appears 12 times in the series - and is always used by her.

3 - The Lannister siblings and the phrase "nipples on a breastplate" (which they all say/think at least once)

4 - Brienne and words twisting like a knife in the belly

"I have no sons but Robb," Lady Catelyn had replied. She had sounded as if a knife were twisting her belly. - AFFC Brienne II Jaime. The name was a knife, twisting in her belly. - AFFC Brienne VIII

#jaime lannister #sansa stark #cersei lannister #tyrion lannister #brienne of tarth #valyrianscrolls #this post brought to you by asearchoficeandfire

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tyriongirl · 8 months

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Tyrion and Lann the Clever: Parallels

The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands

A Dance with Dragons - Tyrion I

A Dance with Dragons - Tyrion XI

The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands

A Dance with Dragons - Tyrion III

A Feast for Crows - Cersei I

The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands

A Feast for Crows - Cersei I

A Feast for Crows - Cersei VIII

A Feast for Crows - Jaime I

The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands

A Clash of Kings - Tyrion III

A Clash of Kings - Tyrion V

A Clash of Kings - Tyrion X

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion V

A Feast for Crows - Cersei I

A Dance with Dragons - Cersei I

The World of Ice and Fire - The Westerlands

A Storm of Swords - Jaime VII

#tyrion lannister #lann the clever #meta #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf #mine #cersei lannister #jaime lannister #long post #this is my magnum opus

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racefortheironthrone · 11 months

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Why do you think Renly despises Brienne?

Are you asking why I think that or why he despises Brienne?

To answer the first version, it's right there in the text:

The younger man started for the door. But there he turned back. "Renly thought she was absurd. A woman dressed in man's mail, pretending to be a knight." "If he'd ever seen her in pink satin and Myrish lace, he would not have complained." "I asked him why he kept her close, if he thought her so grotesque. He said that all his other knights wanted things of him, castles or honors or riches, but all that Brienne wanted was to die for him." (ASOS, Jaime VIII)

Renly made use of Brienne because she came on the cheap, but he didn't respect her and you can see him in ACOK toying with her emotions like a cat with a mouse, because he was observant enough to realize that she was in love with him and cruel enough not to let her down easy.

But as to the second version of the question...here I think the difficulty comes in the difference between show Renly and book Renly. Show Renly dislikes Robert's macho culture of warfare, tournaments, and hunting; he's a recognizably modern gay man who leans a bit more fem than butch.

Book Renly has no problems performing traditional Westerosi masculinity: he's a "young Robert" before the booze and feasting covered his maiden's-fantasy-muscles with fat, he's a prominent tourney knight (although Stannis notes that he's better at performing the role of the tourney knight than actually winning the tourneys), he's charismatic but unintellectual ("Lord Renly always said that books were for maesters."). In modern parlance, we'd call him a "masc for masc" gay guy.

So it's not surprising that that kind of man would believe in Westerosi gender norms, because except for the fact that he sleeps with men (which isn't generally considered a problem as long as one is discreet and manages to father an heir), he's a very conventional Westerosi nobleman.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #renly baratheon #brienne of tarth

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rewildling · 11 months

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LADYHAWKE: The 80s Fantasy Movie that Inspired SanSan?

Could this movie have partially inspired GRRM’s Sansa Stark and Sandor Clegane as a romantic pairing in ASOIAF? And could it contain clues for their TWOW arcs? Let’s investigate.

Isabeau of Anjou and Etienne of Navarre from Ladyhawke (1985)

Ladyhawke (1985) is apparently one of GRRM’s favorite films. According to him, it’s “romantic fantasy done right,” so it’s definitely possible that it influenced the romantic plot lines in his own fantasy series.

The movie tells the story of cursed lovers Etienne of Navarre and Isabeau of Anjou. They are always together, yet eternally apart. By day, Isabeau takes the form of a bird, turning back into a woman at night.

“You’re like one of those birds from the Summer Isles, aren’t you? A pretty little talking bird, repeating all the pretty little words they taught you to recite.” Sandor Clegane, Sansa II, AGOT

By night, Navarre takes the form of a large black wolf, turning back into a man during the day.

The Hound ripped the sword free and threw away the scabbard. The Mad Huntsman gave him his oaken shield, all studded with iron and painted yellow, the three black dogs of Clegane emblazoned upon it. Arya VI, ASOS

Navarre is the former Captain of the Guard of Aquila, a formidable fighter and deadly with a sword.

The White Book was well behind. The deaths of Ser Mandon Moore and Ser Preston Greenfield needed to be entered, and the brief bloody Kingsguard service of Sandor Clegane as well. Jaime XIII, ASOS

The Hound was deadly with a sword, everyone knew that. Arya VI, ASOS

Like Sandor, Navarre is a generally cynical person and is pessimistic about the possibility of ever breaking the curse. He also rides a temperamental black stallion named Goliath.

Arya had tried to steal him once, when Clegane was taking a piss against a tree, thinking she could ride off before he could catch her. Stranger had almost bitten her face off. He was gentle as an old gelding with his master, but otherwise he had a temper as black as he was. She had never known a horse so quick to bite or kick. Arya XI, ASOS

At one point in the film, Navarre asks Matthew Broderick’s character, Phillipe, to tell him everything Isabeau said about him the night before:

“Every moment you spend with her… I envy you. But you can tell me. Tell me everything that she said. And I warn you, I will know if the words are hers. Etienne of Navarre, Ladyhawke

“A dog can smell a lie, you know.” Sandor Clegane, Sansa II, ACOK

Like Sansa, Isabeau is described by others as being exceptionally beautiful, with porcelain skin, blue eyes, and a lovely voice.

“Men would say she had my look, but she will grow into a woman far more beautiful than I ever was, you can see that.” Catelyn VII, ACOK

She is just as comely as the Tyrell girl. Her hair was a rich autumn auburn, her eyes a deep Tully blue. Tyrion VIII, ASOS

“We were talking about the prince,” Sansa said, her voice soft as a kiss. Arya I, AGOT

Isabeau is also kind, clever, and brave. As the Comte d’Anjou’s daughter, her manners are noticeably refined.

Be brave, she told herself. Be brave, like a lady in a song. Sansa V, ASOS

"Knights they are," said Petyr. "Their gallantry has yet to be demonstrated, but we may hope. Allow me to present Ser Byron, Ser Morgarth, and Ser Shadrich. Sers, the Lady Alayne, my natural and very clever daughter..." Alayne II, AFFC

For this next part, let’s keep in mind the theory that Shadrich, Morgarth, and Byron — the three hedge knights who appear at the Gates of the Moon in Littlefinger’s service in AFFC — are actually Howland Reed, the Elder Brother, and Sandor Clegane in disguise.

Phillipe is known as The Mouse. He’s small and stealthy — the first person ever to escape from Aquila’s prison. He’s also very cheeky. At first, he wants to get as far away from Aquila as possible. After he becomes invested in Navarre and Isabeau’s story, he decides to help them infiltrate Aquila and confront the man who cursed them.

Ser Shadrich was a wiry, fox-faced man with a sharp nose and a shock of orange hair, mounted on a rangy chestnut courser. Though he could not have been more than five foot two, he had a cocksure manner. ... “Ser Shadrich of the Shady Glen. Some call me the Mad Mouse.” ... “And are you mad?” “Oh, quite. Your common mouse will run from blood and battle. The mad mouse seeks them out.” Brienne I, AFFC

When Isabeau is wounded, Navarre orders Phillipe to bring her to Imperius, a solitary monk and healer, who saves her life and, along with Phillipe, helps the lovers break their curse.

“The Seven have blessed our Elder Brother with healing hands. He has restored many a man to health that even the maesters could not cure, and many a woman too.” Brother Narbert, Brienne VI, AFFC

The man who cursed them is the Bishop of Aquila, an older man who covets Isabeau and became enraged when she rejected him. The Bishop is portrayed as a greedy, deceitful lord who uses his power to manipulate and exploit people. Imperius describes his desire for Isabeau as “a sort of madness.” Sound like anyone we know?

“Your mother was my queen of beauty once,” the man said quietly. His breath smelled of mint. “You have her hair.” His fingers brushed against her cheek as he stroked one auburn lock. Quite abruptly he turned and walked away. Sansa II, AGOT

Imperius tells Phillipe that Isabeau sensed the Bishop’s wickedness and “shrank from him.” She fell in love with Navarre, and they married in secret.

When Sansa finally looked up, a man was standing over her, staring. He was short, with a pointed beard and a silver streak in his hair, almost as old as her father. “You must be one of her daughters,” he said to her. He had grey-green eyes that did not smile when his mouth did. “You have the Tully look.” “I’m Sansa Stark,” she said, ill at ease. Sansa II, AGOT

“I despise porridge.” He looked at her with Littlefinger’s eyes. “I’d sooner break my fast with a kiss.” A true daughter would not refuse her sire a kiss, so Alayne went to him and kissed him, a quick dry peck upon the cheek, and just as quickly stepped away. Alayne I, AFFC

The parallels between this film and ASOIAF are pretty obvious. Isabeau is a bird, and Navarre is a black wolf — an obvious connection to House Stark — but he could just have easily been a black dog.

All three character’s proposed as the true identities of the three hedge knights in Shadrich, Morgarth, and Byron have parallels in this film. Phillipe the Mouse, Imperius the monk, and Navarre the wolf infiltrate Aquila to confront the Bishop and free Isabeau the bird from his curse. If the theory proves true, Shadrich the Mad Mouse (Howland Reed), Morgarth (the Elder Brother), and Byron (Sandor Clegane/the Hound) are working together to infiltrate the Gates of the Moon and help free Sansa (the little bird) from Littlefinger’s clutches. The broad strokes of the characters and their potential future storylines in TWOW are all present.

Ladyhawke is decently acted, and the story itself is beautiful and interesting. But GRRM is right, the score is terrible.

7.5/10

#sansan saturdays #sansan summer #get her a dog #sansan meta #sansan #asoiaf meta #asoiaf #sansa stark #sandor clegane

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amuelia · 2 years

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[...] Her jaw closed around a pale white arm. She shook it to make it move, but there was only death and blood in her mouth. By now she was tiring, and it was all she could do to pull the body back to shore. [...] The white thing lay facedown in the mud, her dead flesh wrinkled and pale, cold blood trickling from her throat. Rise, she thought. Rise and eat and run with us. - Arya XII, aSoS

"Some call her that. Some call her other things. The Silent Sister. Mother Merciless. The Hangwoman." - Brienne VIII, aFfC

The Warrior was Renly and Stannis, Robb and Robert, Jaime Lannister and Jon Snow. She even glimpsed Arya in those lines, just for an instant. - Catelyn IV, aCoK

"You remember where the heart is?" the Hound asked. She nodded. The squire rolled his eyes. "Mercy." - Arya XIII, aSoS

Arya and Catelyn’s relationship is so important to me, always makes me very emotional... I believe she is going to be the Stark kid to meet Lady Stoneheart in tWoW and bring this story arc a closure

#asoiaf #arya stark #catelyn stark #lady stoneheart #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #nymeria the wolf #2022 #catelyn tully

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dyannawynnedayne · 9 days

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Which character parallel do you like the best?

Cersei and Catelyn: art by @shripscapi (1, 2)

Brienne and Asha: art by @amuelia (1, 2)

Propaganda is encouraged!

Cersei and Catelyn

Watched Their Sons Die

Boom, the drum sounded, boom doom boom doom. The old man’s lips went in and out. The knife trembled in Catelyn’s hand, slippery with sweat. “A son for a son, heh,” he repeated. “But that’s a grandson … and he never was much use.” A man in dark armor and a pale pink cloak spotted with blood stepped up to Robb. “Jaime Lannister sends his regards.” He thrust his longsword through her son’s heart, and twisted. Robb had broken his word, but Catelyn kept hers. She tugged hard on Aegon’s hair and sawed at his neck until the blade grated on bone. Blood ran hot over her fingers. His little bells were ringing, ringing, ringing, and the drum went boom doom boom.

ASOS, Catelyn VII

When he heard Cersei’s scream, he knew that it was over. I should leave. Now. Instead he waddled toward her. His sister sat in a puddle of wine, cradling her son’s body. Her gown was torn and stained, her face white as chalk. A thin black dog crept up beside her, sniffing at Joffrey’s corpse. “The boy is gone, Cersei,” Lord Tywin said. He put his gloved hand on his daughter’s shoulder as one of his guardsmen shooed away the dog. “Unhand him now. Let him go.” She did not hear.

ASOS, Tyrion VIII

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Brienne and Asha

Their Father's Only Son

"No fight is hopeless till it has been fought. I have the best claim. I am the heir of Balon's body."

AFFC, The Kraken's Daughter

Jaime sat against the bole of an oak and wondered what Cersei and Tyrion were doing just now. “Do you have any siblings, my lady?” he asked. Brienne squinted at him suspiciously. “No. I was my father’s only s—child.” Jaime chuckled. “Son, you meant to say. Does he think of you as a son? You make a queer sort of daughter, to be sure.”

ASOS, Jaime II

#fave parallel poll #round one #group c

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deathless--aphrodite · 3 days

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Brienne + home

Jaime I, ASOS / Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird / Y. N. Drazdovich, Castle, Terrace, Sail / Brienne I, AFFC / Kiera K., under no circumstances / Y. N. Drazdovich, Two Girls On A Bridge / Brienne VII, AFFC / Erica Jong, Witches / Y. N. Drazdovich, Girl with Guitar and Swans / Brienne I, AFFC / Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen / Y. N. Drazdovich, Church in Zadarożża / Brienne II, AFFC / Susan Abulhawa, Against the Loveless World: A Novel / Y. N. Drazdovich, Moonlit Landscape with Castle in Hiermanavičy / Brienne VIII, AFFC / Cassandra Troyan, Hatred of Woman / Y. N. Drazdovich, Swans on the Lake

#valyrianscrolls #brienne of tarth #web weaving #im sorry for forgetting sources i am sleeby and my computer hates images 😪

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istumpysk · 11 months

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Operation Stumpy Re-Read

TWOW: Mercy (Arya)

She woke with a gasp, not knowing who she was, or where. The smell of blood was heavy in her nostrils… or was that her nightmare, lingering? She had dreamed of wolves again, of running through some dark pine forest with a great pack at her hells, hard on the scent of prey. [...] She took a breath to quiet the howling in her heart, trying to remember more of what she'd dreamt, but most of it had gone already. There had been blood in it, though, and a full moon overhead, and a tree that watched her as she ran.

A full moon, with Bran watching, how sweet.

Allow me to revisit an old theory from AFFC.

In 2014, George confirmed Jeyne Westerling will make an appearance in the prologue of The Winds of Winter. I speculated that it seems highly plausible that the tension-filled escort to Casterly Rock will serve as the focus of that chapter.

In case you weren't here for Jaime VII, AFFC, there is significant emphasis placed on how critical that escort is, and what a disaster it would be if Edmure and/or Jeyne were to escape.

Lord Beric may try to free Edmure before they reach the Golden Tooth. Jaime did not want to have to capture Tully for a third time. - Jaime VII, AFFC

"Show them in." At least the girl did not vanish too. - Jaime VII, AFFC

When Edmure and the Westerlings departed, four hundred men rode with them; Jaime had doubled the escort again at the last moment. - Jaime VII, AFFC

"We don't know where the Blackfish is," Jaime reminded him, "but if he can cut Edmure free, he will."

"That will not happen, my lord." Like most innkeeps, Ser Forley was no man's fool. "Scouts and outriders will screen our march, and we'll fortify our camps by night. I have picked ten men to stay with Tully day and night, my best longbowmen. If he should ride so much as a foot off the road, they will loose so many shafts at him that his own mother would take him for a goose." - Jaime VII, AFFC

"Good." Jaime would as lief have Tully reach Casterly Rock safely, but better dead than fled. - Jaime VII, AFFC

"—the Young Wolf's widow," Jaime finished, "and twice as dangerous as Edmure if she were ever to escape us." - Jaime VII, AFFC

The problem is, Lady Stoneheart is undermanned and not well positioned to intercept, and the Blackfish is one man against four hundred, so how could Edmure and/or Jeyne possibly escape?

Well, it just so happens that as we progress through Jaime's chapters, we get frequent updates on a certain pack of wolves.

The next day Ser Dermot of the Rainwood returned to the castle, empty-handed. When asked what he'd found, he answered, "Wolves. Hundreds of the bloody beggars." He'd lost two sentries to them. The wolves had come out of the dark to savage them. "Armed men in mail and boiled leather, and yet the beasts had no fear of them. Before he died, Jate said the pack was led by a she-wolf of monstrous size. A direwolf, to hear him tell it. The wolves got in amongst our horse lines too. The bloody bastards killed my favorite bay." - Jaime VII, AFFC

Hundreds of the bloody things!

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

If you are, scroll up, and reread the intro to Arya's first TWOW chapter.

Doesn't it feel like we're being offered a brief glimpse into the events of the prologue?

+.+.+

Half-light filled the room, grey and gloomy. Shivering, she sat up in bed and ran a hand across her scalp. Stubble bristled against her palm. I need to shave before Izembaro sees. Mercy, I'm Mercy, and tonight I'll be raped and murdered. Her true name was Mercedene, but Mercy was all anyone ever called her…

Get it, get it??

"Some call her that. Some call her other things. The Silent Sister. Mother Merciless. The Hangwoman." - Brienne VIII, AFFC

"Mycah." Arya stepped away from him. "You don't deserve the gift of mercy." - Arya XIII, ASOS

+.+.+

The air had grown chilly… and a good thing, else she might have slept all day. It would be just like Mercy to sleep through her own rape.

You know how they made Bran emotionally detached, and socially disconnected?

I'm being totally sincere when I say that's how I would describe Arya in this chapter. It's unsettling, and difficult to read.

+.+.+

Dipping a rough cloth, she washed herself head to heel, standing on one leg at a time to scrub her calloused feet.

At least she's bathing.

If you look hard enough you can still find remnants of Arya.

"Syrio says a water dancer can stand on one toe for hours." Her hands flailed at the air to steady herself. - Eddard V, AGOT

+.+.+

After that she found her razor. A bare scalp helped the wigs fit better, Izembaro claimed.

Arya following in the footsteps of Cersei and Daenerys.

+.+.+

One of her stockings needed mending, she saw as she pulled it up. She would ask the Snapper for help; her own sewing was so wretched that the wardrobe mistress usually took pity on her.

Again, if you look hard enough you can still find remnants of Arya.

+.+.+

Last of all she threw her cloak across her shoulders. It was a real mummer's cloak, purple wool lined in red silk, with a hood to keep the rain off, and three secret pockets too. She'd hid some coins in one of those, an iron key in another, a blade in the last.

What's the key? To the sanctum?

One passage was closed off by a heavy iron door. The priest hung the lantern from a hook, slipped a hand inside his robe, and produced an ornate key. - The Ugly Little Girl, ADWD

If it is, I don't think she's supposed to have one of those.

+.+.+

Most days she preferred to go the long way, down the Ragman's Road along the Outer Harbor, where she had the sea before her and the sky above, and a clear view across the Great Lagoon to the Arsenal and the piney slopes of Sellagoro's Shield. Sailors would hail her as she passed the docks, calling down from the decks of tarry Ibbenese whalers and big-bellied Westerosi cogs.

Is the harbor your favourite spot, Mercy?

+.+.+

The long way also took her across the Bridge of Eyes with its carved stone faces.

How could this not have something to do with Bran?

+.+.+

She heard a cat yowl plaintively. Braavos was a good city for cats, and they roamed everywhere, especially at night. In the fog all cats are grey, Mercy thought. In the fog all men are killers.

Same in the riverlands.

Behind it sat a woman all in grey - Brienne VIII, AFFC

but the woman in grey had eyes only for the pommel - Brienne VIII, AFFC

The woman in grey gave no answer. - Brienne VIII, AFFC

The woman in grey hissed through her fingers. - Brienne VIII, AFFC

The other girl in grey.

+.+.+

Mercy passed an old man with a lantern walking the other way, and envied him his light. The street was so gloomy she could scarcely see where she was stepping. In the humbler parts of the city, the houses, shops, and warehouses crowded together, leaning on each other like drunken lovers, their upper stories so close that you could step from one balcony to the next. The streets below became dark tunnels where every footfall echoed. The small canals were even more hazardous, since many of the houses that lined them had privies jutting out over the water.

You'll be fine. I trust you in dark tunnels, child.

+.+.+

Izembaro loved to give the Sealord's speech from The Merchant's Melancholy Daughter, about how "here the last Titan yet stands, astride the stony shoulders of his brothers," but Mercy preferred the scene where the fat merchant shat on the Sealord's head as he passed underneath in his gold-and-purple barge. Only in Braavos could something like that happen, it was said, and only in Braavos would Sealord and sailor alike howl with laughter to see it.

The Merchant's Melancholy Daughter and the Titan had me thinking this is somehow related to Sansa and Littlefinger, but I have no idea how.

+.+.+

When Izembaro had first dubbed himself the King of the Mummers, the company had taken a wicked pleasure in it, savoring the outrage of their rivals from the Dome and the Blue Lantern. Of late, though, Izembaro had begun to take his title too seriously. "He will only play kings now," Marro said, rolling his eyes, "and if the play has no king in it, he would sooner not stage it at all." The Bloody Hand offered two kings, the fat one and the boy. Izembaro would play the fat one. It was not a large part, but he had a fine speech as he lay dying, and a splendid fight with a demonic boar before that.

This play is sounding a bit familiar!

+.+.+

Izembaro was telling everyone that he expected the Gate to be packed to the rafters this evening, despite the fog. "The King of Westeros is sending his envoy to do homage to the King of the Mummers tonight," he told his troupe. "We will not disappoint our fellow monarch."

I doubt Tommen is alive at this point, I'm guessing they haven't received the memo. I could be wrong though.

+.+.+

Every mummer's troupe had to have a dwarf. He [Bobono] was theirs. When he saw Mercy, he gave her a leer. "Oho," he said, "there she is. Is the little girl all ready for her rape?" He smacked his lips.

There's a dwarf in this play! I wonder what role he'll play.

+.+.+

The King of the Mummers ignored the brief commotion. He was still talking, telling the mummers how magnificent they must be. Besides the Westerosi envoy, there would be keyholders in the crowd this evening, and famous courtesans as well. He did not intend for them to leave with a poor opinion of the Gate.

The Westerosi envoy is Harys Swyft, master of coin, and Cersei Lannister's new (old) lapdog. The keyholders are five officials from the Iron Bank.

That seems like a promising sign for Queen Cersei.

+.+.+

And Bobono's cock was indeed flopping out. It was made to flop out, for the rape. What a hideous thing, Mercy thought as she knelt before the dwarf to fix him. The cock was a foot long and as thick as her arm, big enough to be seen from the highest balcony. The dyer had done a poor job with the leather, though; the thing was a mottled pink and white, with a bulbous head the color of a plum. Mercy pushed it back into Bobono's breeches and laced him back up. "Mercy," he sang as she tied him tight, "Mercy, Mercy, come to my room tonight and make a man of me." "I'll make a eunuch of you if you keep unlacing yourself just so I'll fiddle with your crotch." "We were meant to be together, Mercy," Bobono insisted. "Look, we're just the same height."

Even his manhood was ugly, thick and veined, with a bulbous purple head. - Sansa III, ASOS

This play follows canon better than Game of Thrones.

+.+.+

He is teasing me, Mercy thought. He's not drunk tonight, he knows the show perfectly well. "We are doing Phario's new Bloody Hand, in honor of the envoy from the Seven Kingdoms." "Now I recall." Bobono lowered his voice to a sinister croak. "The seven-faced god has cheated me," he said. "My noble sire he made of purest gold, and gold he made my siblings, boy and girl. But I am formed of darker stuff, of bones and blood and clay, twisted into this rude shape you see before you." With that, he grabbed at her chest, fumbling for a nipple. "You have no titties. How can I rape a girl with no titties?" She caught his nose between her thumb and forefinger and twisted. "You'll have no nose until you get your hands off me." "Owwwww," the dwarf squealed, releasing her. "I'll grow titties in a year or two." Mercy rose, to tower over the little man. "But you'll never grow another nose. You think of that, before you touch me there." Bobono rubbed his tender nose. "There's no need to get so shy. I'll be raping you soon enough." "Not until the second act."

"I always give Wendeyne's titties a nice squeeze when I rape her in The Anguish of the Archon," the dwarf complained. "She likes it, and the pit does too. You have to please the pit."

Honestly, what compelled George R. R. Martin to write this?

+.+.+

Daena recognized some Gate regulars in the crowd, and pointed them out for her; the dyer Dellono with his pinched white face and mottled purple hands, Galeo the sausage-maker in his greasy leather apron, tall Tomarro with his pet rat on his shoulder. "Tomarro best not let Galeo see that rat," Daena warned. "That's the only meat he puts in them sausages, I hear." Mercy covered her mouth and laughed.

Hide the rat!

Not that it matters, but I'm a little thrown off by a Braavosi mummer having a Targaryen name.

+.+.+

The Sealord had never visited the Gate, but Izembaro named a box for him anyway, the largest and most opulent in the house. "That must be the Westerosi envoy. Have you ever seen such clothes on an old man? And look, he's brought the Black Pearl!"

[...]

"They should call her the Brown Pearl," Mercy said to Daena. "She's more brown than black." "The first Black Pearl was black as a pot of ink," said Daena. "She was a pirate queen, fathered by a Sealord's son on a princess from the Summer Isles. A dragon king from Westeros took her for his lover." "I would like to see a dragon," Mercy said wistfully.

Be careful what you wish for.

I still don't understand the purpose of all this Black Pearl x Targaryen backstory.

+.+.+

"Why does the envoy have a chicken on his chest?"

Daena howled. "Mercy, don't you know anything? It's his siggle. In the Sunset Kingdoms all the lords have siggles. Some have flowers, some have fish, some have bears and elks and other things. See, the envoy's guards are wearing lions."

It wouldn't be an Arya chapter if she wasn't struggling to identify a sigil.

+.+.+

There were four guards; big, hard-looking men in ringmail, with heavy Westerosi longswords sheathed at their hips. Their crimson cloaks were bordered in whorls of gold, and golden lions with red garnet eyes clasped each cloak at the shoulder. When Mercy glanced at the faces beneath the gilded, lion-crested helm, her belly gave a quiver. The gods have given me a gift.

Uh oh!

Dunsen, Polliver, Chiswyck, Raff the Sweetling. The Tickler and the Hound. Ser Amory, Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, King Joffrey, Queen Cersei.

+.+.+

"What of him? Do you know him?" "No." Mercy had been born and bred in Braavos, how could she know some Westerosi? She had to think a moment. "It's only… well, he's fair to look on, don't you think?" He was, in a rough-hewn way, though his eyes were hard. Daena shrugged. "He's very old. Not so old as the other ones, but… he could be thirty. And Westerosi. They're terrible savages, Mercy. Best stay well away from his sort."

George thinks calling the westerners savages one time is going to save him from criticism.

Every time a young girl calls 30-year-old men old, I smile.

+.+.+

"If the Snapper comes looking for me, tell her that I went off to read my lines again." She only had a few, and most were just, "Oh, no, no, no," and "Don't, oh don't, don't touch me," and "Please, m'lord, I am still a maiden," but this was the first time Izembaro had given her any lines at all, so it was only to be expected that poor Mercy would want to get them right.

Good lord.

What do we know about this play? We know a dwarf playing Tyrion is going to rape the maiden Mercy is playing. Any guesses who that might be?

I know what you're thinking, but it's probably not Sansa.

Mercy, I'm Mercy, and tonight I'll be raped and murdered.

Sansa wasn't murdered, and she'd have more lines.

+.+.+

"Seven hells, this place is damp," she heard her guard complain. "I'm chilled to the bones. Where are the bloody orange trees? I always heard there were orange trees in the Free Cities. Lemons and limes. Pomegranates. Hot peppers, warm nights, girls with bare bellies. Where are the bare-bellied girls, I ask you?" "Down in Lys, and Myr, and Old Volantis," the other guard replied. He was an older man, big-bellied and grizzled. "I went to Lys with Lord Tywin once, when he was Hand to Aerys. Braavos is north of King's Landing, fool. Can't you read a bloody map?"

Is that George R. R. Martin trolling his own fanbase?

+.+.+

"How long do you think we'll be here?"

"Longer than you'd like," the old man replied. "If he goes back without the gold the queen will have his head.

In case you missed ADWD's Epilogue, that is a pretty blatant spoiler sitting in plain sight.

Harys Swyft wasn't to travel to Braavos until after Cersei's trial, an event where there's a possibility she'll be executed.

Now he finds himself in Braavos, facing the prospect of losing his head if he doesn't retrieve gold for a queen. Doesn't sound like Margaery Tyrell, does it? Looks like Cersei Lannister managed to survive!

We're now forced to ask ourselves why Margaery Tyrell (Queen), Mace Tyrell (Hand of the King), Randyll Tarly (Master of laws), Paxter Redwyne (Master of ships - not currently in King's Landing, but I'm making a point), and the High Sparrow (High Septon of the Faith of the Seven) are suddenly granting Cersei Lannister the authority to do anything at all.

I have a theory: they're dead, she killed most of them at the trial.

+.+.+

"Longer than you'd like," the old man replied. "If he goes back without the gold the queen will have his head. Besides, I seen that wife of his. There's steps in Casterly Rock she can't go down for fear she'd get stuck, that's how fat she is. Who'd go back to that, when he has his sooty queen?"

For some reason, we're getting additional information about Harys Swyft's unknown wife. That tells me we might be seeing both her and Dorna Swyft in King's Landing soon (Kevan's funeral?).

"Hardstone has cleared the broken men from Darry castle," he replied. "Lancel's bride awaits us there."

"Will your lady wife (Dorna) be joining you for the nuptials?" - Cersei III, AFFC

"Your wife … do you mean to bring her to court?"

"No." Dorna was a gentle soul, never comfortable but at home with friends and kin around her. - Epilogue, ADWD

That should please Cersei.

+.+.+

When the dwarf appeared suddenly from behind a wooden tombstone, the crowd began to hiss and curse. Bobono waddled to the front of the stage and leered at them. "The seven-faced god has cheated me," he began, snarling the words. "My noble sire he made of purest gold, and gold he made my siblings, boy and girl. But I am formed of darker stuff, of bones and blood and clay…"

By then Marro had appeared behind him, gaunt and terrible in the Stranger's long black robes. His face was black as well, his teeth red and shiny with blood, while ivory horns jutted upwards from his brow. Bobono could not see him, but the balconies could, and now the pit as well. The Gate grew deathly quiet. Marro moved forward silently.

A mummer playing the Stranger appears behind Tyrion?

This brings me immense joy.

+.+.+

So did Mercy. The costumes were all hung, and the Snapper was busy sewing Daena into her gown for the court scene, so Mercy's absence should not be noted. Quiet as a shadow, she slipped around the back again, up to where the guardsmen stood outside the envoy's box.

Again, if you look hard enough you can still find remnants of Arya.

+.+.+

On stage, Bobono was bargaining with Marro's sinister Stranger. He had a big voice for such a little man, and he made it ring off the highest rafters now. "Give me the cup," he told the Stranger, "for I shall drink deep. And if it tastes of gold and lion’s blood, so much the better. As I cannot be the hero, let me be the monster, and lesson them in fear in place of love."

Bargaining with the Stranger? No damnit, hold firm, Stranger.

What is this drinking deep? Cersei and Jaime poison things? Joffrey's cup? I don't understand this.

Also, that last line sounds like something Daenerys might say.

+.+.+

She studied it carefully, to be sure. Am I too young for him? she wondered. Too plain? Too skinny? She hoped he wasn't the sort of man who liked big breasts on a girl. Bobono had been right about her chest. It would be best if I could take him back to my place, have him all to myself. But will he come with me?

He'll want me or he won't, she thought, so let the play begin.

Fuss and feathers, Mercy thought, they only know the Common Tongue. That was no good. Give it up or go ahead. She could not give it up. She wanted him so bad.

Are you having fun yet?

+.+.+

Mercy looked down at her feet, so shy. "Izembaro said to please the lords," she whispered. "If there is anything you want, anything at all…" The two guardsmen exchanged a look. Then the handsome one reached out and touched her breast. "Anything?" "You’re disgusting," said the older man. "Why? If this Izembaro wants to be hospitable, it would be rude to refuse." He gave her nipple a tweak through the fabric of her dress, just the way the dwarf had done when she was fixing his cock for him. "Mummers are the next best thing to whores." "Might be, but this one is a child." "I am not," lied Mercy. "I'm a maiden now." "Not for long," said the comely one. "I'm Lord Rafford, sweetling, and I know just what I want. Hike up those skirts now, and lean back against that wall."

"Not here," Mercy said, brushing his hands away. "Not where the play is on. I might cry out, and Izembaro would be mad."

Isn't this awesome?

+.+.+

He grabbed her wrist. "I'll do the teaching. Time for your first lesson." He pulled her hard against him and kissed her on the lips, forcing his tongue into her mouth. It was all wet and slimy, like an eel. Mercy licked it with her own tongue, then broke away from him, breathless. "Not here. Someone might see. My room's not far, but hurry. I have to be back before the second act, or I'll miss my rape."

She's so incredibly badass, isn't she?

+.+.+

"Mercy," he said. "My name is Raff."

"I know." She slipped her hand between his legs, and felt how hard he was through the wool of his breeches.

"The laces," he urged her. "Be a sweet girl and undo them." Instead she slid her finger down along the inside of his thigh. He gave a grunt. "Damn, be careful there, you —"

Mercy gave a gasp and stepped away, her face confused and frightened. "You're bleeding."

"Wha —" He looked down at himself. "Gods be good. What did you do to me, you little cunt?" The red stain spread across his thigh, soaking the heavy fabric.

The creators of Game of Thrones would like you to cheer now.

+.+.+

"Mother have mercy, girl. A healer… run and find a healer, quick now."

"There's one on the next canal, but he won't come. You have to go to him. Can't you walk?"

"Walk?" His fingers were slick with blood. "Are you blind, girl? I'm bleeding like a stuck pig. I can't walk on this."

"Well," she said, "I don't know how you'll get there, then."

"You'll need to carry me."

See? thought Mercy. You know your line, and so do I.

"Think so?" asked Arya, sweetly.

Raff the Sweetling looked up sharply as the long thin blade came sliding from her sleeve. She slipped it through his throat beneath the chin, twisted, and ripped it back out sideways with a single smooth slash. A fine red rain followed, and in his eyes the light went out.

There's Arya! Doing Arya things.

Earlier:

"You could be a mummer, if you wanted," she told him, as he pressed her up against the wall of the playhouse.

"Me?" The guardsman snorted. "Not me, girl. All that bloody talking, I wouldn't remember half of it."

"It's hard at first," she admitted. "But after a time it comes easier. I could teach you to say a line. I could."

Annndddd much earlier than that:

"Can you walk?" He sounded concerned.

"No," said Lommy. "You got to carry me."

"Think so?" The man lifted his spear casually and drove the point through the boy's soft throat. Lommy never even had time to yield again. He jerked once, and that was all. - Arya V, ACOK

Rest in hell, Raff the Sweetling.

+.+.+

"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," she sang sadly. A foolish, giddy girl she'd been, but good hearted. She would miss her, and she would miss Daena and the Snapper and the rest, even Izembaro and Bobono. This would make trouble for the Sealord and the envoy with the chicken on his chest, she did not doubt. She would think about that later, though. Just now, there was no time. I had best run. Mercy still had some lines to say, her first lines and her last, and Izembaro would have her pretty little empty head if she were late for her own rape.

Make trouble for the Sealord and the envoy? Is the Iron Bank going to be forced to give Harys Swyft money to make up for this? Cersei Lannister, you never lose. Lol.

Anyway, notice how the author intentionally made that impossible to enjoy? Apparently David & Dan didn't.

Final thoughts:

And so, we reach the end of the last Arya chapter, a character who holds a special place in my heart.

Before we proceed, I'd like to take a moment to express my gratitude to someone without whom this reread project wouldn't have been possible.

Thank you, friend. We'll meet again someday.

Next chapter: Arianne II

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#operation stumpy re-read #twow #mercy #arya i

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