Tyrion and Illyrio are travelling by litter along an ancient Valyrian tarmac Roman road. They have good food on board. Tyrion is being sent to Volantis to wait for Dany's presumed arrival.
Viserys apparently tried to get into Dany's bed before her wedding. Did we know that already? Tyrion tries to figure out why Illyrio is so interested in helping her but his proferred motives are suspect. I had thought he would be annoyed about her selling his ships, but he seems pretty impressed with her.
We get a bit of Illyrio/Varys backstory. Seems like they got started handling stolen goods before Varys figured out that the real money was in information. Tyrion is pretty amazed that Varys has been plotting for Dany to return all this time. I need to go back an re-read a much earlier chapter where Ned and Robert were arguing about whether to assasinate here and see if Varys had anything to say then.
I'm still a bit vague about why Dany would want to work with Tyrion, but Illyrio thinks the fact he killed Tywin will sway her.
It seems as if it is Illyrio who has hired the Golden Company for Dany, not prince Quentin as previously assumed. Interesting. They'll be keen to help her re-take Westeros apparently because they or their ancestors were exiled from there originally so they think of it as home.
Tyrion is to meet and work with someone called Griff, who Illyrio trusts. Tyrion continues to obsess about Tysha.
Thursday, 22 August 2019
ADwD 4: Bran 68
Bran, Hodor, Meera, Jojen and Summer are following the strange zombie Coldhands through the forest looking for a three-eyed crow. They're running out of food and Jojen is getting weaker. I'm not sure if we know the reason why; I don't remember Jojen getting injured or anything but it's been a while.
Coldhands goes off to find some bad guys who are nearby and sends the children away to take shelter in an abandoned village. Bran takes telepathic control of Summer and finds some dead Watchmen being eaten by another wolf, none other than Varamyr Sixskins who now permanently inhabits his wolf's body now that his human body is dead. They win a fight and then Summer/Bran have a taste of human flesh too.
At this point I don't understand the mechanics of wargs well enough to predict what will happen. Bran is seemingly unperturbed about tasting human flesh. Varamyr's pack have seemingly joined Summer but I don't know if wolf-Varamyr is more wolf-like or more human-like at this point so I can't tell how likely he is to betray them.
Coldhands goes off to find some bad guys who are nearby and sends the children away to take shelter in an abandoned village. Bran takes telepathic control of Summer and finds some dead Watchmen being eaten by another wolf, none other than Varamyr Sixskins who now permanently inhabits his wolf's body now that his human body is dead. They win a fight and then Summer/Bran have a taste of human flesh too.
At this point I don't understand the mechanics of wargs well enough to predict what will happen. Bran is seemingly unperturbed about tasting human flesh. Varamyr's pack have seemingly joined Summer but I don't know if wolf-Varamyr is more wolf-like or more human-like at this point so I can't tell how likely he is to betray them.
Wednesday, 21 August 2019
ADwD 3: Jon 52
Jon is having wolf dreams again. Has he really not figured out that he really is inhabiting his wolf's body? I think he probably knows it but doesn't want to think about it too much. Via telepathy, we know that of the four remaining wolves (Sansa's was killed by Ned) one of them can no longer be sensed. Whether because dead (we think Robb's wolf was killed at the Red Wedding) or not is ambiguous. Bran's wolf Summer smells of summer, weirdly.
There's a bit of a Wildling refugee problem, but at least there are some spare lands for them to settle. Melisandre still wants two kings' blood, a father and a son to wake a dragon. Okay, confirmation that Jon does know what is going on with the wolf dreams: he thinks his wolf knows that Robb's wolf is dead. He also thinks that Bran's and Rickon's wolves have escaped, but not Bran and Rickon.
Stannis's and Melisandre's men are staying at Castle Black. One of them, Ser Godry Farring challenges Jon to a sparring session. But Jon has to go and see Stannis to tell him why he won't be giving him half the Night's Watch's abandoned forts. Stannis is trying to get various northern lords to declare for him and not having much luck. He's only the Karstarks who don't have much choice since Lord Karstark got beheaded for killing one of Robb's prisoners. Stannis thinks he can marry Val to some lord and the Wildlings will follow him, but Jon explains that it's a stupid idea.
He's also trying to explain that Dalla's boy is not a prince so there's no point burning him to death for some spell. There's a discussion about Gilly and Dalla's son. It's clear Jon is already planning a baby switcheroo.
Jon seems to be expecting another Wildling attack from Tormund and asks Melisandre for intel. She warns Jon she thinks he'll be murdered by daggers in the dark surrounded by ice. It's not the most useful prediction and it's a bit of a worry.
There's a bit of a Wildling refugee problem, but at least there are some spare lands for them to settle. Melisandre still wants two kings' blood, a father and a son to wake a dragon. Okay, confirmation that Jon does know what is going on with the wolf dreams: he thinks his wolf knows that Robb's wolf is dead. He also thinks that Bran's and Rickon's wolves have escaped, but not Bran and Rickon.
Stannis's and Melisandre's men are staying at Castle Black. One of them, Ser Godry Farring challenges Jon to a sparring session. But Jon has to go and see Stannis to tell him why he won't be giving him half the Night's Watch's abandoned forts. Stannis is trying to get various northern lords to declare for him and not having much luck. He's only the Karstarks who don't have much choice since Lord Karstark got beheaded for killing one of Robb's prisoners. Stannis thinks he can marry Val to some lord and the Wildlings will follow him, but Jon explains that it's a stupid idea.
He's also trying to explain that Dalla's boy is not a prince so there's no point burning him to death for some spell. There's a discussion about Gilly and Dalla's son. It's clear Jon is already planning a baby switcheroo.
Jon seems to be expecting another Wildling attack from Tormund and asks Melisandre for intel. She warns Jon she thinks he'll be murdered by daggers in the dark surrounded by ice. It's not the most useful prediction and it's a bit of a worry.
ADwD 2: Danearys 34
Dany is still trying to improve Meereen. She has lots of problems. There's a terrorist group called Sons of the Harpy who are killing her men. The freed slaves are being hired back at meagre wages and the economy is suffering from a readjustment leading to a temporary loss of productivity. People are becoming beggars and prostitutes to pay the bills. Old, unproductive slaves are out on the street instead of being cared for by their former masters.
The prophecy from Quarth about three betrayals is somewhat clarified, at least as far as Dany thinks. The Maegi was the first, Ser Jorah Mormont (now exiled) was the second, and the third betrayal is still on the way.
Cleon the Butcher King of Astapor (leader of slaves who enslaved the former masters after Dany freed them) now wants to marry her. He'll have to join the queue. Dany thinks she could marry the wealthy trader Hizdhr zo Loraq, and at some point plenty of other people are going to turn up with proposals.
Dany finds being ruler hard work and has to make lots of difficult moral compromises. To make matters worse, her dragons are starting to get a taste for small children.
I'd put someone else in charge of the mess and start heading for Westeros if I were you, Dany!
The prophecy from Quarth about three betrayals is somewhat clarified, at least as far as Dany thinks. The Maegi was the first, Ser Jorah Mormont (now exiled) was the second, and the third betrayal is still on the way.
Cleon the Butcher King of Astapor (leader of slaves who enslaved the former masters after Dany freed them) now wants to marry her. He'll have to join the queue. Dany thinks she could marry the wealthy trader Hizdhr zo Loraq, and at some point plenty of other people are going to turn up with proposals.
Dany finds being ruler hard work and has to make lots of difficult moral compromises. To make matters worse, her dragons are starting to get a taste for small children.
I'd put someone else in charge of the mess and start heading for Westeros if I were you, Dany!
ADwD 1: Tyrion 16
So we finally get to find out what Tyrion has been up to all this time! Cersei would really like to read this.
He's been bundled onto a ship by Varys and bundled off it again in Pentos by Ilyrio. Dany's old protector; giver of dragon eggs. Ok, so Ilyrio is definitely a player and not a pawn. He's probably in league with Doran Martell. I'm not sure how Tyrion fits in because the Martells and the Targaryens hate Lannister guts, owing to the whole killing Elia and Rhaegar and their children, siding with the usurper Robert Baratheon and so on. Tyrion still thinks of himself as a Lannister even though he hates his siblings and his father. So I'm not sure where that leaves things or how friendly Ilyrio really is towards him. He has some plans, clearly, but we will have to wait for another chapter.
Meanwhile Tyrion is mostly just feeling sorry for himself. He wants to figure out "where whores go" because those were Tywin's last words, in answer to the question of where his beloved Tysha who really loved him ended up. He thinks he could go to Dorne to help Myrcella claim the throne (that obviously won't work out) or possibly the wall. It's interesting how slowly information travels. He is surprised to find out that Stannis is at the wall. He is at least suitably suspicious of Ilyrio.
He's been bundled onto a ship by Varys and bundled off it again in Pentos by Ilyrio. Dany's old protector; giver of dragon eggs. Ok, so Ilyrio is definitely a player and not a pawn. He's probably in league with Doran Martell. I'm not sure how Tyrion fits in because the Martells and the Targaryens hate Lannister guts, owing to the whole killing Elia and Rhaegar and their children, siding with the usurper Robert Baratheon and so on. Tyrion still thinks of himself as a Lannister even though he hates his siblings and his father. So I'm not sure where that leaves things or how friendly Ilyrio really is towards him. He has some plans, clearly, but we will have to wait for another chapter.
Meanwhile Tyrion is mostly just feeling sorry for himself. He wants to figure out "where whores go" because those were Tywin's last words, in answer to the question of where his beloved Tysha who really loved him ended up. He thinks he could go to Dorne to help Myrcella claim the throne (that obviously won't work out) or possibly the wall. It's interesting how slowly information travels. He is surprised to find out that Stannis is at the wall. He is at least suitably suspicious of Ilyrio.
ADwD Prologue 1
A new book. And we have jumped back in time so we can find out what was happening with all the other characters who were not in AFfC while we were reading it. Should be interesting!
The prologue starts, as ever, with a doomed character. This time we're north of the wall with Varamyr Sixskins. Did we meet him before? In Mance Rayder's tent, perhaps? It's possible. Anyway, he has met Jon Snow at some point because he recognised him as a fellow skin-changer. Does this skill come from Bran or do all the Stark children have it from raising the direwolves?
Varamyr doesn't seem like a very nice chap. Killed his baby brother and his teacher. Does all kinds of abominable warg abominations. Ran away when Stannis's army turned up. I'm not entirely clear on what caused his eagle to burn. Did Jon fire an arrow at it a couple of books back? Maybe that was it. There's a rumour of a fleet of ships carrying free-folk south. It might even be true.
Anyway nowhere is safe anymore. Varamyr is wounded and dying. He is helped by a woman named Thistle, so naturally he tries to take over her body when the wights attack. That goes wrong, so he ends up being a wolf.
The prologue starts, as ever, with a doomed character. This time we're north of the wall with Varamyr Sixskins. Did we meet him before? In Mance Rayder's tent, perhaps? It's possible. Anyway, he has met Jon Snow at some point because he recognised him as a fellow skin-changer. Does this skill come from Bran or do all the Stark children have it from raising the direwolves?
Varamyr doesn't seem like a very nice chap. Killed his baby brother and his teacher. Does all kinds of abominable warg abominations. Ran away when Stannis's army turned up. I'm not entirely clear on what caused his eagle to burn. Did Jon fire an arrow at it a couple of books back? Maybe that was it. There's a rumour of a fleet of ships carrying free-folk south. It might even be true.
Anyway nowhere is safe anymore. Varamyr is wounded and dying. He is helped by a woman named Thistle, so naturally he tries to take over her body when the wights attack. That goes wrong, so he ends up being a wolf.
Tuesday, 28 May 2019
AFfC summary
What just happened? The downfall of Cersei happened. In retrospect that seemed inevitable. She took over from the very able Tywin, but didn't take anyone's advice, and ignored too many warnings and made too many mistakes. She tried Tryion and Littlefinger-style manipulation and it all backfired. Ultimately it looks like she is a pawn and not a player. I'm not yet sure what it means for the other Lannisters. Will Jaime and Kevan be able to sort things out?
Sam travelled to Oldtown, briefly meeting Arya along the way. Presumably now he'll study to be a maester and return to the wall.
Arya is having adventures in Braavos. I'm not sure what will happen to her now she has killed Dareon. She'll either advance to the next stage of assassin training, to return later to effect a major plot twist, or else be booted out of the cult and go on to have further adventures.
The Ironmen are trying to woo Dany to their cause of overthrowing Westeros. They are also threatening Oldtown.
The Mage is trying to get Dany to, do what, exactly? Fullfill her part in a prophecy to save the universe?
The Dornish are trying to woo Dany to their cause of wiping out the Lannisters.
The Tyrells are trying to save themselves from the Ironmen and secure their daughter's place beside Tommen. That's all looking pretty precarious.
Petyr is trying to win the Eyrie and Winterfell, though with the coming of Dany / Monsters from the North, all this seems a bit of a sideshow, for all his clever scheming.
Stannis has lost a castle but possibly gained some ships. I'm not sure what else he has been up to on the wall. Keeping the realm safe from monsters, presumably, but the realm seems mostly unaware of it for now.
Brienne went looking for Sansa and found Catelyn, who is about to hang her.
The Great Septon is raising an army, and will probably try to overthrow the Lannisters.
Lancel is off to join the Great Septon's army, but it occurs to me he feels guilty about the whole business with Cersei. Might he rescue her?
Meanwhile we know very little about the North. A lot of the North was held by Ironmen but they are distracted elsewhere now. Roose Bolton is out there doing things; helping or hindering Lannisters, I forget which. Who knows what is happening at the wall and beyond it, with Bran and Coldhands. We also don't know what Tyrion is up to. We still don't know what Rickon Stark is doing. Mance Rayder won't have been idle.
Lots of people are "presumed" dead, but probably will turn up later: Brienne, Loras, The Original Hound, GREGOR, Davos, Theon, Benjen Stark (remember him?).
And Dany is in Meereen, ready to take over Westeros, reunite the kingdoms, end slavery, thwart the monsters beyond the wall, and bring back the age of dragons. Any day now!
Sam travelled to Oldtown, briefly meeting Arya along the way. Presumably now he'll study to be a maester and return to the wall.
Arya is having adventures in Braavos. I'm not sure what will happen to her now she has killed Dareon. She'll either advance to the next stage of assassin training, to return later to effect a major plot twist, or else be booted out of the cult and go on to have further adventures.
The Ironmen are trying to woo Dany to their cause of overthrowing Westeros. They are also threatening Oldtown.
The Mage is trying to get Dany to, do what, exactly? Fullfill her part in a prophecy to save the universe?
The Dornish are trying to woo Dany to their cause of wiping out the Lannisters.
The Tyrells are trying to save themselves from the Ironmen and secure their daughter's place beside Tommen. That's all looking pretty precarious.
Petyr is trying to win the Eyrie and Winterfell, though with the coming of Dany / Monsters from the North, all this seems a bit of a sideshow, for all his clever scheming.
Stannis has lost a castle but possibly gained some ships. I'm not sure what else he has been up to on the wall. Keeping the realm safe from monsters, presumably, but the realm seems mostly unaware of it for now.
Brienne went looking for Sansa and found Catelyn, who is about to hang her.
The Great Septon is raising an army, and will probably try to overthrow the Lannisters.
Lancel is off to join the Great Septon's army, but it occurs to me he feels guilty about the whole business with Cersei. Might he rescue her?
Meanwhile we know very little about the North. A lot of the North was held by Ironmen but they are distracted elsewhere now. Roose Bolton is out there doing things; helping or hindering Lannisters, I forget which. Who knows what is happening at the wall and beyond it, with Bran and Coldhands. We also don't know what Tyrion is up to. We still don't know what Rickon Stark is doing. Mance Rayder won't have been idle.
Lots of people are "presumed" dead, but probably will turn up later: Brienne, Loras, The Original Hound, GREGOR, Davos, Theon, Benjen Stark (remember him?).
And Dany is in Meereen, ready to take over Westeros, reunite the kingdoms, end slavery, thwart the monsters beyond the wall, and bring back the age of dragons. Any day now!
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