Chapter 17: Tyrion
In which Tyion proves himself to be a magnificent bastard.
Tyrion has breakfast with Pycelle, who is keeping to humbler rations that normal in a gesture of solidarity towards the hungry townsfolk. This means the two are dining on plain porridge, eggs and stewed plums, which I suspect are a bit nicer than what the peasants are used to. But still, Pycelle does try not to be ostentatious, even if as I suspect his perspective is skewed.
They discuss various matters, and Tyrion has send letters to Doran Martell, prince of Dorne. While Pycelle is gone, Tyrion helps himself to a small vial of mysterious liquid. Tyrion suggests that Pycelle is better of not knowing what's in the letter, and also that King Joffrey is really too young to follow these important political manoeuvres, and that Cersei has quite enough on her mind already without being troubled by this matter, whatever it may be. Pycelle promises to inform Tyrion, and nobody else, when a reply arrives from Dorne.
Tyrion leaves, and goes to see Littlefinger. On the way, his bodyguard, Bronn, tells him about all the creditors and peasants who want to see him, as well as the fact that Alliser Thorne has arrived and wants to show him the zombie hand he has. Tyrion doesn't like Alliser very much, and decides to keep him waiting.
At the entrance to Littlefinger's area, Tyrion comes across Cersei, who insults him a bit and lets on that Renly is approaching, albeit slowly. Tyrion thinks that this is Renly's style - be slow and careful, put on a good show to impress the peasants, and scope out the situation. Tyrion isn't too scared of Renly, who has never led an army before. The man he fears is Stannis, who is hard, stern, and competant.
When Tyrion gets to Littlefinger, we learn that Littlefinger was barely more than a peasant when Robert gave him some responsibility for part of the treasury, and by his shrewd investments and tact with creditors, he rose to become lord of the treasury, and everyone else in King's Landing with responsibility for money is one of his own men. Tyrions wants to change that, but this will require time and subtlety.
They watch Joffrey trying unsuccessfully to shoot hares with a crossbow, and laugh at him for being a big dumb stupid-head.
The two discuss various matters, and Littlefinger tries to impress Tyrion by claiming he took the virginities of Catelyn and Lysa while he was being fostered at the Eyrie. Tyrion dismisses this as an irresponsible lie, but does not voice his concern, and instead asks Littlefinger to intercede on his behalf with Lysa. He wishes to get the Tullies to acknowledge Joffrey as king and fight against Renly and/or Stannis. In exchange, Tyrion will send her Jon Arynn's true killer, arrange for Robert-chan to become Warden of the East, and also send Myrcella to her as collateral, with the possibility that Myrcella might marry Robert-chan. Out of this, Littlefinger will gain Harrenhal as the Seat of his House, and be made liege lord of the Trident. He agrees, and warns that he might be forced to sleep with Lysa 'again' in order to make this work..
Finally, Tyrion goes to see Varys. Varys has worked out that Tyrion intends to secure Doran Martell's loyalty by offering him a seat on the council, and Gregor Clegane. See, during Robert's Rebellion, Gregor killed Doran's infant son, then, with the kid's blood and brains still on his hands, raped his wife to death. If Doran agrees to support Tyrion, he will also gain Tommen as collateral. Tyrion secures Varys' promise not to tell Cersei with a veiled threat.
Oh Tyrion, you are awesome, you are.
We get a good look at Pycelle this chapter. As I mentioned, he is keeping his meals humble out of sympathy for the peasants, but what he's having for breakfast sounds rather luxurious compared to what the average stonemason would be eating. He comes across as well-meaning but out of touch.
There is also a glimpse of what might be the prevailing attitudes in the Seven Kingdoms, or perhaps just another aspect of Pycelle's out-of-touch nature, or both. He mentions that it's admirable for Cersei to take on such responsibilities in spite of being a mere woman, and therefore inherently frail. Tyrion thinks otherwise.
Chapter 18: Sansa
Sansa has received an anonymous note, telling her to come to the godswood if she wants to escape. We learn that Cersei has made sure to rotate her servants on a fortnightly basis to keep them from befriending her. Sansa has grown paranoid, fearing that every one of her servants is spying on her. Seeing no way to get to the godswood unnoticed, she decides to bunk down for the night.
However, a disturbance outside the gate draws the guards away, and Sansa seizes the opportunity to go to the godswood. She finds waiting for her Dontos, an alcoholic knight who made a spectacular fool of himself in the tournament at the start of the book, but whom Sansa saved from execution. Dontos, now a fool, has had the spirit of chivalry reawoken in him, and wants to help Sansa escape, as he thinks it's the right thing to do. Sansa is reminded of the tale of Florian, the fool who was the truest knight of all, and his lover Jonquil, and so she takes him up on his offer, but he advises her that it will be a while before he can get her out of there.
Sansa returns to the keep, and is accosted by a drunk Sandor Clegane on the way. Sandor tells him the story of the Clegane family crest, three black dogs on a yellow field.
- Sandor's grandfather was a kennelmaster. One day, Tytos Lannister was attacked by a lion. Mr. Clegane drove the lion away with his dogs, losing three in the processs. Tytos, in gratitude, made Mr. Clegane a lord there and then; the dogs on the crest are in memory of those killed by the lion.
Sandor returns Sansa to her bedchamber, being all gruff but not altogether unkind. He also makes her promise to sing for him one day.
Well, Sansa continues her descent into the seedy underbelly of medieval society, and finds among the very dregs of society men of true honour. And interesting juxtaposition.
We also learn a bit about Sandor Clegane. He doesn't mind being called a dog, claiming to like dogs better than people, but get positively livid when people address him as ser due to his hatred of knights. While he may be cynical, and comes across as an asshole, he is entirely honest and straightforward with the world and himself, and does seem to have a soft spot for Sansa. I like him.
Chapter 19: Arya
The survivors of the fire are as follows:
- Arya
- Gendry
- Hot Pie
- Lommy, though with a serious leg injury that prevents him from walking
- Kurz, a poacher I do not previously recall meeting
- Cutjack and Tarber, two others who were not previously mentioned
- The little girl they found, who Lommy names Weasel for some reason
At Arya's insistence, the seven give Yoren a decent burial, then strike off north. Kurz dies of a throat wound after two days, but manages to pass on a little of his knowledge of landcraft before then. After that, Cutjack and Tarber take what supplied they can and abandon the rest.
The kids press on, eventually reaching a village with rather a lot of crows in it, and an unpleasant smell. Lommy keeps saying that if they meet a knight, they should yield, like in the stories. Gendry insists that knights don't give a damn about the common folk, and will just kill them where they stand.
Arya and Gendry go to scout out the village. On the approach, Gendry reveals that he knows Arya's a girl; Arya decides to trust him and comes clean about who she really is, causing a very funny scene where Gendry starts bowing and scraping and calling her m'lady. Arya tries showing she's one of the lads, but Gendry isn't entirely convinced.
They reach the village, and see decaying corpses hanging from trees, with Lannister and Clegane soldiers on guard. Gendry gets captured.
Arya goes back to where they left the others and brings Hot Pie with her to rescue Gendry, but the guards notice Hot Pie who, sure enough, tries to yield. In terror, Hot Pie leads the guards back to where Lommy is waiting; Weasel has apparently run off. Lommy, of course, tries to yield. The guard demands to know the location of Beric Dondarrion; Lommy, of course, has no idea, and when the guard finds out he can't walk, kills him where he sits.
Oh boy. Shit just got real.
Arya has lost her sword, and now has to face Gregor Clegane. She can't possibly emerge from this unscathed. Oh man, this is going to be horrible, isn't it?
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