Game of Owns: Tales of the Past

9 Comments

1. The “Knight of the Laughing Tree” story is one of the parts of the books that is most commonly cited in fan complaints of things left out of the show, but to me it’s a textbook case of something that works very well in the books, but would be extremely difficult to adapt (and beside which, it’s not relevant to anything else going on in the story at that point (including Bran’s story, frankly; Bran never twigs to what the story is about or does anything with that information).

2. Hodor! Nailed it.

3. A conical helm is not necessarily very tall. And even if it is, it can be pretty badass. For instance: http://www.outfit4events.cz/runtime/cache/images/productFull/saracenska-prilba-ghazi-3059_02.jpg (just google conical helm to see the normal size).

   To be honest, I’d rather have a helmet like that with a pike on it than a pickelhaube.

4. I really like all the theories in this episode by the way. I agree with Kate on the theory that Lyanna is the knight of the laughing tree. I loved the entire story very much, especially when you later find out who the Lord of Griffins is, the purple-eyed maid, and which White Sword.

5. Harrenhal is in the Riverlands and was the home at that time of House Whent. The famous uncle of the Kingsguard of the starting Queen of love and beauty of the tournament is Oswell Whent. House Dayne is from Dorne.

6. Great episode, it was a really pleasant surprise to see a new episode this morning. You guys really helped me get over a really stressful day at school.
   I also really enjoyed Kate (more than usual ;P), all the crazy fan theories is what makes this series worth re-reading over and over , I can’t wait for the Sullied episode with Micah!

   I need more GOO! 🙂

7. Dany dance music (can’t stop the fire is also good)
   

   Two awersome chapters, love ’em both. <3 Missandei. BOO Kraznys!

   BTW, I really can't imagine that we are supposed to believe that these people don't understand that feeding infants to bears and murdering random babies is wrong. They just don't give a shit because they are rolling around in pits of money. "Cultural Relativism" only works to a certain point y'all.

   Zach and Eric: watch for some clues about the identity of the purple eyed maid in an upcoming chapter. 😉

8. The purple eyed maid was already mentioned several times in AGOT in connection with the Quiet Wolf. Targaryens aren’t the only people in Westeros with purple/violet eyes, and there were no Targaryen women of that age group at the time.

   And yes, Harrenhal belonged to House Whent. But they haven’t really been important at all in the story so far, other than the fact that Catelyn’s mother was a Whent, that the last lady of Harrenhal who was a Whent had to abandon it when the war started, and that the Kingsguard uncle was Oswell Whent, one of the three Kingsguard knights who later died at the Tower of Joy, fighting Ned Stark, Howland Reed and their other five companions, as we know from Ned’s dream in AGOT.

   Another one of the Kingsguard knights at the Tower of Joy was the famous swordsman Arthur Dayne (one of Jamie’s idols, he got mentioned recently in Jamie’s last chapter as one of the few people dead or alive who could defeat him). The Daynes are a family from Dorne, they have nothing to do with Harrenhal. Arthur’s sister was a famous Liz Taylor-like beauty Ashara Dayne, one of the women suspected of being Jon’s mother. Of course, I don’t believe that and I think it was just a red herring, but Ashara’s fate has been a mystery since book 1. She gets mentioned a lot, alongside her brother. This was the first mention of her, in Catelyn’s 2nd chapter in AGOT:

   He did more than that. The Starks were not like other men. Ned brought his bastard home with him, and called him “son” for all the north to see. When the wars were over at last, and Catelyn rode to Winterfell, Jon and his wet nurse had already taken up residence.

   That cut deep. Ned would not speak of the mother, not so much as a word, but a castle has no secrets, and Catelyn heard her maids repeating tales they heard from the lips of her husband’s soldiers.

   They whispered of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, deadliest of the seven knights of Aerys’s Kingsguard, and of how their young lord had slain him in single combat. And they told how afterward Ned had carried Ser Arthur’s sword back to the beautiful young sister who awaited him in a castle called Starfall on the shores of the Summer Sea. The Lady Ashara Dayne, tall and fair, with haunting violet eyes. It had taken her a fortnight to marshal her courage, but finally, in bed one night, Catelyn had asked her husband the truth of it, asked him to his face.

   That was the only time in all their years that Ned had ever frightened her. “Never ask me about Jon,” he said, cold as ice. “He is my blood, and that is all you need to know. And now I will learn where you heard that name, my lady.” She had pledged to obey; she told him; and from that day on, the whispering had stopped, and Ashara Dayne’s name was never heard in Winterfell again.

   Cersei later mentioned the same rumour in a Ned’s chapter, during their confrontation:

   “Honor,” she spat. “How dare you play the noble lord with me! What do you take me for? You’ve a bastard of your own, I’ve seen him. Who was the mother, I wonder? Some Dornish peasant you raped while her holdfast burned? A whore? Or was it the grieving sister, the Lady Ashara? She threw herself into the sea, I’m told. Why was that? For the brother you slew, or the child you stole? Tell me, my honorable Lord Eddard, how are you any different from Robert, or me, or Jaime?”

   From what we know of Brandon Stark, it’s clear why he was called “the wild wolf”. It’s interesting to note that Brandon was the one who asked Ashara to dance with Ned. File that one as something to come back to later (only after reading the next two books).

   The griffin lord and the Kingsguard knight who danced with the lady with the purple eyes become clear later in the books (even though I think the griffin lord has been briefly mentioned in one of the previous books). The only people you really can’t place without the help of ASOAIF Wiki are the knight of skulls and kisses and the porcupine and pitchfork knights, but they really aren’t important (at least they haven’t been so far).

   I think that Robert Baratheon having a drinking contest with the other guy was just there to show the contrast between Rhaegar’s and Robert’s personalities. And yes, I am 100% sure Lyanna was the Knight of the Laughing Tree. Not only does everything fit (Ned would not be very small of stature, since he was an 18-year old man of average height), but it makes the story so much more meaningful. It’s indeed clear why Rhaegar fell for Lyanna, but it also puts his gesture in a different light – maybe giving Lyanna the crown of Queen of Love and Beauty was also his way of giving credit to her for what she did. Meera mentioned that Rhaegar was sent by his father to find the mystery knight and unmask him, but he supposedly did not find him. I think he did found her, and this is how they really got to know each other. Not only does the story give us an idea why Rhaegar fell for Lyanna, it also gives a strong impression that she liked Rhaegar much better than Robert (who, we already knew from Ned’s memories, Lyanna was not looking forward to marrying), and hints at why – the brooding, melancholy, bookish Rhaegar sung a sad song that made Lyanna cry (which her younger brother Benjen, ‘the pup’, mocked her for), while frat boy Robert was having a drinking contest, and if he was singing any songs, they were probably bawdy ones.

9. Hey Gooers, I’m just two episodes away from being officially caught up (having started GOO two months ago).

   My own for the Bran chapter is Jojen’s “If ice can burn,” said Jojen in his solemn voice, “then love and hate can mate.” I’m not even fully sure what that means, but I love it when GRRM drops those Jojen-style bombs.

Comments are closed.