A Game of Thrones Reread - Part 23

And we are back with another fun-filled installment of the South of the Wall reread project! Today we will be taking our long trek through the Eyrie. I hope everyone is reading along, because from here on out I think the summaries will have to be scaled back some. The chapters are getting longer, and they are all densely filled with information, and there is no real way for me to cover everything the chapter talks about. I'll still quote any particularly relevant or cool passages, but you should really read along to experience all of George R. R. Martin's great writing and eye for detail.

And don't forget the standard spoiler warning applies. The posts and comments will all include spoilers for all currently published A Song of Ice and Fire material.

And without further ado, the post:

CATELYN

Summary

Catelyn's party was met by Ser Donnel Waynwood at the pass. She had lost six men, all that remained besides herself were Ser Rodrik, Ser Willis Wode, Marillion the singer, Bronn, and Tyrion Lannister. Ser Donnel told her the mountain clans have gotten much more bold since Jon Arryn died. He has wanted to lead some men into the hills to route them out, but Lysa has ordered all the men to stay near the Eyrie. She wouldn't even allow any knights to take part in the Hand's tourney. As they reached the Bloody Gate they were met by the Knight of the Gate - Brynden Tully, called the Blackfish, Catelyn's uncle. He expressed his surprise to see her, and she explained to him all that has happened. Catelyn explains to him everything that has happened so far, and he warns her that her sister may not be as helpful as Catelyn hopes.

Ser Rodrik and Ser Willis remained behind, as the rest of the group moved towards the Eyrie. The Eyrie was several towers built into the side of the mountain. There were seven towers, and the highest could barely be seen at all. As they traveled Catelyn spoke with her uncle, and asked him the mood in the Vale. He tells her that it is angry, and that many believe that Jon Arryn's death was suspicious. Lysa has ordered that her son be referred to as the True Warden of the East, instead of acknowledging Jaime Lannister. The son is another problem, as he is six years old and sickly, and prone to cry if he drops one of his dolls. The Eyrie is also full of suitors, and while Lysa says she will take another husband she has been stubborn claiming she is waiting for the right man. He also mentions Tyrion, and how he doesn't seem a prisoner. Catelyn thinks about the situation, and sees how Tyrion is armed and has become very close with the sellsword Bronn. They reach the Gate of the Moon and plan to spend the night before ascending the mountain in the morning, however word was left that Lysa expects Catelyn that night.

Catelyn meets Mya Stone, a dark haired bastard girl who will accompany Catelyn up the long and treacherous path. They climb through darkness, riding mules, until Catelyn finally reaches the topmost tower. Catelyn is met by Maester Colemon, who brings her to Lysa's solar. Lysa was waiting still in her robe. Catelyn hasn't seen her sister in five years, and Lysa did not wear the time well. Although younger than Cat, she know looks older and more weathered. She warmly embraces Cat and tells the others to leave her alone with her sister. As soon as they were alone Lysa lashed into Cat for bringing a Lannister into her home. Cat mentions Lysa's letter, and Lysa tells her that note was to warn them to stay away from the Lannisters, not to fight them. Lysa's son was woken up by the yelling and walked into the room. Cat continued the conversation about the Lannisters, but Lysa scolded her not to talk about such things in front of the baby. Lysa tells Cat the last thing her husband said was The seed is strong. He kept saying Robert's name, and that the seed was strong. Cat tells her that the boy is the Lord of the Vale and this is no time for delicacy. Cat thinks how Rickon is half of Robert's age, and five times as fierce. Lysa then opened her robe and began to breast feed her son.

Lysa insists that the Eyrie is impregnable and they are safe there. She doesn't know what she should do with the Lannister. Robert asks if he is a bad man, and Lysa says yes. Robert says they should make him fly, and Lysa says they just might.

My Thoughts

Jeez, this was a tough chapter to get through. We spent the entire chapter inside Catelyn's head, and to be honest that is one of my least favorite places to be. What struck me most about this chapter was the actual description of the Eyrie (which I, of course, completely left out of my summary). I wanted to include this in the summary above, but the description of it is broken over many different pages, and it was too much of a hassle to try to tie it all together. But I think my overriding thought was just how... impractical it seems. It is built into the side of a mountain, only accessible by a narrow staircase? The logistics of it just seem ridiculous. There is a basket that can bring supplies and people up to the topmost tower, but what about all the other towers? Think about the king's procession to Winterfell at the beginning of the book - how in the seven hells would they all have gotten to the Eyrie? Do they just meet at the base of the mountain? And what about if repairs need to be made to any of these towers? I guess we can just assume they were built with magic and there are no avalanches or whatever. I know I just asked a lot of rhetorical questions, but trying to figure out how the damned Eyrie works dominated most of my thoughts this chapter.

For in-story purposes, this is our first exposure to Lysa Tully Arryn. I wish I could remember my thoughts on this from my first read. Lysa Tully was the intelligent sister that gave her sister the coded message to discover the threat of the Lannisters! I probably expected something much better than this. Instead we get a scared woman, surrounding herself with knights and suitors, planning to hide in her tower in the sky until everything blows over. And breastfeeding her six year old son? ICK. Of course now we know that her actions were all orchestrated by one Petyr Baelish, and Lysa was just a weak willed woman in love with the wrong man. And of course she's not actually going to marry any of the suitors, she is waiting for her Littlefinger to show up.

As for ongoing plot issues, we see firsthand the charisma of Tyrion Lannister. He has had the luck to survive the dangerous trek through the mountain pass, and his quick wit and sense of humor has won him a friend and ally in Bronn. Bronn, by the way, must be pretty bad ass. Catelyn herself admits that they would never have made it to the Eyrie alive without him. I think based on this, and the upcoming duel Bronn fights on Tyrion's behalf, Bronn becomes one of my absolute favorite side characters. He's just a badass swordfighter and opportunist.

As for ongoing subplots, we get the Blackfish mentioning how Robert was to be sent to be fostered by Tywin Lannister. So now we have Robert and the Blackfish both mentioning baby Robert going to the Lannisters. I'll have to keep an eye out for who mentions him going to Stannis instead. This all leads to Lysa poisoning her husband. Gah, she's the worst. And we learn Jon Arryn's last words, mentioning Robert and that "the seed is strong." Lysa thinks he is referring to their son, but he is in fact referring to all of Robert's children and their dark hair (including his first bastard - the lovely Mya Stone).

***************

And that's it for this chapter! What did everyone else think?