Synopsis: A Song of Fire and Ice / Book 3
Oct. 16th, 2004 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aI've just finished reading A Storm of Swords. In fact, as it happens, I've just finished reading all three books in A Song of Fire and Ice through, a task which took many weeks, and which I don't expect to repeat, no matter how good they were.
Unfortunately, it'll probably be a year before book 4 is out, and I'd guess 5-10 years before the serious is complete. I'm unlikely to remember what was going on by the time I pick up the next book. Thus, I've decided to write myself a synopsis of where everyone was at the end of Book III as a memory aide. As you'd expect, this post will entirely be spoilers, with a bit of analysis.
As Book III ends a lull has fallen over the battles for succession in Westeros. All of the former candidates are dead, except for King Stannis whose forces are now in the north, beyond the wall, having in turn routed the forces of the would-be King in the North. All of our Starks are safe, except perhaps poor Sansa, and many of them are moving on new places & new lessons learned. Even in the East, Dany has stopped to pause for a moment, to learn how to rule. I would not be surprised if Martin takes this moment between books to let everyone breathe, and to let his young cast grow just a bit.
Ned. The father of the tribe. Still dead. Beheaded by Ser Payne, the King's Executioner near the end of Book I for treason (saying that Stannis was the rightful king, not Jofrey, which was true). His bones were sent North to Winterfell, but I'm not clear if they ever arrived.
One mystery still surrounds Ned, which is the identity of his bastard "son" Jon's mother; more on that in a moment.
Cate. Ned's wife. Killed at the Red Wedding when she tried to protect her eldest son, Robb. Her throat was cut and she was dumped in the Trident. Raised by Thoros of Myr, the red preist, but after she was too long dead. We don't know if there's anything left in Cate but vengeance.
Benjen. Ned's brother. Missing since the first book when he led a group of rangers over the wall. His men were returned as undead wights, but nothing more has ever been seen of Benjen.
I assume it's he who left a cache of dragonglass and a black cloak at the Fist of the First Men far beyond the wall, which Jon later found. If so then he survived the attack which killed his brothers, and in ranging further on managed to discover the weakness of the Others--obsidian. Why he would continue in his journeys beyond the wall in that case is not known.
Robb. Ned's oldest son. Killed at the Red Wedding. Before that he was one of the contenders for the throne and never defeated in battle. His wife, Jeyne, survives him.
Jon. Ned's second son, a bastard. Maybe. Pledged to the Night's Watch where he made enemies, became the lord commander's servant, ranged into the north, was told to pretend to join the wildlings by his commander, eventually saved the wall from ambush, and later saved it from attack. At the end of Book III he is offered to be legitimized and given Winterfell by Stannis and also to be made new Lord Commander of the Night Watch. He accepts the latter, and when last we saw Jon he was heading off to tell Stannis that he had choosen to keep his vows as a member of the Night Watch.
What Jon does not know is that Robb made him official heir to Winterfell before he died, because he thought that all of his siblings were dead other than Sansa, who was by then married to Tyrion. It was the only way to keep Winterfell from passing into Lannister hands. Robb signed an official declaration on this matter, and had his witnessed by his greatest lords. It seems unlikely that this document should have survived the Red Wedding, but it still feels like a big dangling plot point.
The other issue of note regarding Jon is his true parentage. He's also been presented as Ned's son, and in book III it's strongly hinted that his mother was the wife of Ser Arthur Dayne of Starfall, creating an elegant Arthurian triad to predate Martin's War of the Roses fantasy. However, we also have the issue of Ned's sister Lyanna, who was raped by one of the dragon princes (Rhaegar?) and died mysteriously as a result. Which sounds to me like death in childbirth, which would leave a noble son of the Targaryen family missing. And it would explain why noble, noble Ned could have had a bastard son: he didn't, he was simply willing to soil his honor as the only way to protect his dead sister's only son, who otherwise would have been killed by Robert and the Lannisters when they took the throne. I like this answer much better than what has been suggested thus far.
Jon's direwolf, Ghost, has just returned to him at the end of Book III.
Sansa. Ned's eldest daughter, nor married to Tyrion Lannister though their marriage has never been consumated. Now also being held captive by Petyr Littlefingers at the Aerie, Petyr having just married Lysa (wife of the late Jon Arryn, sister to Cate) and has just killed her. Petyr seems to be in love with her. Tyrion probably is too for that matter. Sansa, meanwhile, has done nothing but whine and complain through three books, and was directly responsible for his father death in Book I, when she revealed his plans to Cersei.
Sansa's direwolf, Lady, is dead.
Arya. Ned's second daughter. She has been on the run since King's Landing was taken by the Lannisters in book I. Most recently she was captured by The Hound, but she abandoned him to die of an infected wound when he was wounded. She has since taken passage to the Free Cities, thanks to the coin she was given by an Eastern sorcerer. She promises to be a strong warrior as she ages.
Arya's direwolf, Nymeria, was forced to flee near the Trident to avoid being killed and since seems to have gathered a huge army of wolves which is terrorizing the nearby lands.
Most believe Arya is dead, since she has not been seen since the coup at King's Landing.
Bran. Ned's third son. He was crippled in book I when Jaime Lannister through him off a tower. He was forced to flee Winterfell in book II when it was taken first by Theon Gray, then later by the Bastard of Bolton. He has long been having visions of a three-eyed crow who promises to teach him secrets beyond the wall. When we last left Bran he had slipped beneath the wall thanks to the Black Gate and met a strange man named Coldhands who rides an elk (and thus would seem to be an Other, though he is not murderous like the rest). His companions are the dumb giant Hodor and two of his subjects from the Neck, Meera and Jojen Reed, the latter of which is something of a seer.
Bran's direwolf, Summer, accompanies him.
Everyone believes Bran is dead, thanks to subterfuge on Theon Greyjoy's part.
Rickon. Ned's youngest son, a babe. After they fled Winterfell, Bran and Rickon split up. Rickon was brought east by the supposedly trusted wildling Osha. We have not seen him since book II, but he was being brought to trusted bannermen.
Everyone believes Rickon is dead, thanks to subterfuge on Theon Greyjoy's part.
Tywin. The patron of the house. Apparently killed by Tyrion as he fled the Castle at the end of book III, in revenge for what Tywin did to Tyrion's first wife.
Jaime. Tywin's oldest son. Jaime is his sister Cersei's lover, and the father of the three children that supposedly are Robert's.
Captured by Robb in book II, then set free by Cate in book III to be exchanged for Arya and Sansa, then captured by Voag Hoat, a loathsome sellsword and maimed, his sword hand cut off. Since he has returned to King's Landing and taken up the post of Commander of the King's Guard. None of the other knights realize how week he is.
When last we saw him Jaime had just rescued Tyrion from the dungeons, told Tyrion that truth of his first wife (that she was no prostitute), and then been spurned by his brother as a result. Tyrion lied to him, saying that he had killed Joffrey. He'll doubtless blame himself for his father's death, at Tyrion's hands, too.
Cersei. Tywin's daughter. An evil, evil bitch. Manipulative and cunning, one of the least likable people in the entire book. When last we saw her she was grieving over her son Joffrey and trying to have her brother Tyrion killed.
Tyrion. Tywin's second son, a dwarf. After ably defending King's Landing in book II, and being nearly killed, he was then spurned by pretty much his whole family. In book III he is married to Sansa, but never consumates the marriage because he wants his wife to come to love him first. At the New Year's Feast, when Joffrey is killed, Tyrion is blamed for the murder and fails to show his innocence via trial by jury or combat. He later confesses to Jaime that he did kill Joffrey, in a moment of anger, though this is false (apparently the elder Tyrell did).
At the end of book III, TYrion learns that his first wife was not a prostitute as his father had always told him, before he gave her to his guards, and he kills his father as a result. Afterward, he flees East, just as Arya has.
Of all the characters, Tyrion is most clearly based upon a character from the War of the Roses--Richard III. An irony. Like Richard, he is a dwarf, but unlike Richard he is a true hero, not a villain. Like Richard he is accused of killing his nephew (Joffrey) to take the throne; unlike Richard, this accusation is false. Clearly, Tommen should appear to fall by his hand as well.
Joffrey. The king is dead, poisoned, probably by Lady Olenna, Mace Tyrell's widowed mother. Good riddance.
Myrcella. The second child borne of Jaime and Cersei. Now a ward of the Martells.
Tommen. The third child of this incestuous union. Apparently a nice enough boy. Now 8. Now also the king.
Theon Greyjoy. This former companion of Robb's, once the ward of the Stark's, became a part of the attack on the north when he returned home seeking help for Robb. He later took Winterfell, but could not hold it. He pretended to kill Bran and Rickon to save face after they escaped. When the Bastard of Bolton took Winterfell they took Theon and probably still hold him alive, though part of his hand has been skinned.
Ser Davos. The onion knight, the hand of King Stannis, and one of our viewpoint characters through books II-III. When last we see Davos he is bringing Stannis a letter begging aid for the north. A few hundred pages later Stannis shows up with his army north of the wall, and fights back the army of wildlings there.
Queen Dany. An annoying queen who belongs in some other book than A Song of Fire & Ice's European-style fantasy. She is another who could claim the throne is rightfully hers, since she is one of 2 (perhaps 3) surviving Targaryens (the others being a maester on the wall and perhaps Jon Snow). She has raised a mighty army of freed slaves in the East, and is currently trying to bring peace to the three cities about slaver's bay before she continues her march onward to the free cities and eventually Westeros. Her three dragons continue to grow in size.
Queen Dany has been given a couple of prophecies by the sorcerers she killed in the far east.
The most notable is that she will be betrayed three times, once for blood, once for money, once for love. The "blood" is presumed to be the woman who cursed her womb and brought her husband back as a zombie. The "money" is presumed to be Ser Jorah Mormant, who has since been exiled. It was implied that the "love" might have been Ser Barristan, formerly of the Kingsguard, but I disbelieve. I think she still has one betrayal coming.
Also notable is that she has been told that the dragon has three heads, implying to her that she and her two husbands will together reconquer Westeros, riding their three dragons. Ser Mormant was at one time considered for this privilege, and more recently Brown Ben Plumm, a sellsword. I'm going to put Jon's name out again here, and maybe even Maester Aemon on the wall, because if my guesses about Jon are right, that implies that there are indeed three living Targaryens.
Petyr Littlefingers. A manipulative and evil man who has slowly been moving up through the ranks of power, and is behind much of the maneuvering of the books thus far. He convinced Lysa to kill her husband, Jon Arryn, setting everything into motion. He also conspired to ensure the death of Joffrey Baratheon. Most recently, he killed the Lady Lysa after marrying her. I'm sure we'll find out he was at the heart of other plots. Now he is threatening Sansa Stark, because he was always in love with her mother, Cate. Evil, evil, evil.
Berric Dondarrion. The lightning lord and Robert's last true knight. Essentially, Robin Hood, gathering a merry band of outlaws in the middle of the kingdom who ransom the rich and help the poor. He has been killed many times, raised by the red priest, THoros of Myr each time, and grows weary of life.
The Hound (Clegor Sandane). Fled King's Landing in Book II when the fires burned everywhere. Fond of Sansa and almost kind to her. Later captured Arya, but was left to die of an infected wound by her. Seemed almost fond of her two. A very messed up man.
Gregor Sandane. The hound's very evil brother. Poisoned by the Red Viper (Oberyn Martell) and being nursed back to health so that he can then be turned over to the Martells and killed, as vengeance for his slaying of their sister many years before. The mountain.
With all of the candidates for King's Landing dead other than King Stannis and King Tommen it's not entirely obvious where we go from here. However, there are a few major issues remaining: the Others who are gathering their might beyond the wall; and Queen Dany who is gathering her might to the East. Add in Petyr Littlefingers and we could easily have 5 contenders once more fighting for the throne, which is to say nothing of the individual stories of the Starks, Jaime, and Tyrion.
In the end I expect to see Dany ascend to the throne, offer her hand to Jon as the Targaryens have done for generations, and then be rejected because he holds true to his vows. Jaime, the kingslayer, who slew Dany's father will be the next choice, and king who ultimately joins her, bringing peace to a shattered land.
At least that's one possibility ...
Unfortunately, it'll probably be a year before book 4 is out, and I'd guess 5-10 years before the serious is complete. I'm unlikely to remember what was going on by the time I pick up the next book. Thus, I've decided to write myself a synopsis of where everyone was at the end of Book III as a memory aide. As you'd expect, this post will entirely be spoilers, with a bit of analysis.
A Storm of Swords
As Book III ends a lull has fallen over the battles for succession in Westeros. All of the former candidates are dead, except for King Stannis whose forces are now in the north, beyond the wall, having in turn routed the forces of the would-be King in the North. All of our Starks are safe, except perhaps poor Sansa, and many of them are moving on new places & new lessons learned. Even in the East, Dany has stopped to pause for a moment, to learn how to rule. I would not be surprised if Martin takes this moment between books to let everyone breathe, and to let his young cast grow just a bit.
The Starks
Ned. The father of the tribe. Still dead. Beheaded by Ser Payne, the King's Executioner near the end of Book I for treason (saying that Stannis was the rightful king, not Jofrey, which was true). His bones were sent North to Winterfell, but I'm not clear if they ever arrived.
One mystery still surrounds Ned, which is the identity of his bastard "son" Jon's mother; more on that in a moment.
Cate. Ned's wife. Killed at the Red Wedding when she tried to protect her eldest son, Robb. Her throat was cut and she was dumped in the Trident. Raised by Thoros of Myr, the red preist, but after she was too long dead. We don't know if there's anything left in Cate but vengeance.
Benjen. Ned's brother. Missing since the first book when he led a group of rangers over the wall. His men were returned as undead wights, but nothing more has ever been seen of Benjen.
I assume it's he who left a cache of dragonglass and a black cloak at the Fist of the First Men far beyond the wall, which Jon later found. If so then he survived the attack which killed his brothers, and in ranging further on managed to discover the weakness of the Others--obsidian. Why he would continue in his journeys beyond the wall in that case is not known.
Robb. Ned's oldest son. Killed at the Red Wedding. Before that he was one of the contenders for the throne and never defeated in battle. His wife, Jeyne, survives him.
Jon. Ned's second son, a bastard. Maybe. Pledged to the Night's Watch where he made enemies, became the lord commander's servant, ranged into the north, was told to pretend to join the wildlings by his commander, eventually saved the wall from ambush, and later saved it from attack. At the end of Book III he is offered to be legitimized and given Winterfell by Stannis and also to be made new Lord Commander of the Night Watch. He accepts the latter, and when last we saw Jon he was heading off to tell Stannis that he had choosen to keep his vows as a member of the Night Watch.
What Jon does not know is that Robb made him official heir to Winterfell before he died, because he thought that all of his siblings were dead other than Sansa, who was by then married to Tyrion. It was the only way to keep Winterfell from passing into Lannister hands. Robb signed an official declaration on this matter, and had his witnessed by his greatest lords. It seems unlikely that this document should have survived the Red Wedding, but it still feels like a big dangling plot point.
The other issue of note regarding Jon is his true parentage. He's also been presented as Ned's son, and in book III it's strongly hinted that his mother was the wife of Ser Arthur Dayne of Starfall, creating an elegant Arthurian triad to predate Martin's War of the Roses fantasy. However, we also have the issue of Ned's sister Lyanna, who was raped by one of the dragon princes (Rhaegar?) and died mysteriously as a result. Which sounds to me like death in childbirth, which would leave a noble son of the Targaryen family missing. And it would explain why noble, noble Ned could have had a bastard son: he didn't, he was simply willing to soil his honor as the only way to protect his dead sister's only son, who otherwise would have been killed by Robert and the Lannisters when they took the throne. I like this answer much better than what has been suggested thus far.
Jon's direwolf, Ghost, has just returned to him at the end of Book III.
Sansa. Ned's eldest daughter, nor married to Tyrion Lannister though their marriage has never been consumated. Now also being held captive by Petyr Littlefingers at the Aerie, Petyr having just married Lysa (wife of the late Jon Arryn, sister to Cate) and has just killed her. Petyr seems to be in love with her. Tyrion probably is too for that matter. Sansa, meanwhile, has done nothing but whine and complain through three books, and was directly responsible for his father death in Book I, when she revealed his plans to Cersei.
Sansa's direwolf, Lady, is dead.
Arya. Ned's second daughter. She has been on the run since King's Landing was taken by the Lannisters in book I. Most recently she was captured by The Hound, but she abandoned him to die of an infected wound when he was wounded. She has since taken passage to the Free Cities, thanks to the coin she was given by an Eastern sorcerer. She promises to be a strong warrior as she ages.
Arya's direwolf, Nymeria, was forced to flee near the Trident to avoid being killed and since seems to have gathered a huge army of wolves which is terrorizing the nearby lands.
Most believe Arya is dead, since she has not been seen since the coup at King's Landing.
Bran. Ned's third son. He was crippled in book I when Jaime Lannister through him off a tower. He was forced to flee Winterfell in book II when it was taken first by Theon Gray, then later by the Bastard of Bolton. He has long been having visions of a three-eyed crow who promises to teach him secrets beyond the wall. When we last left Bran he had slipped beneath the wall thanks to the Black Gate and met a strange man named Coldhands who rides an elk (and thus would seem to be an Other, though he is not murderous like the rest). His companions are the dumb giant Hodor and two of his subjects from the Neck, Meera and Jojen Reed, the latter of which is something of a seer.
Bran's direwolf, Summer, accompanies him.
Everyone believes Bran is dead, thanks to subterfuge on Theon Greyjoy's part.
Rickon. Ned's youngest son, a babe. After they fled Winterfell, Bran and Rickon split up. Rickon was brought east by the supposedly trusted wildling Osha. We have not seen him since book II, but he was being brought to trusted bannermen.
Everyone believes Rickon is dead, thanks to subterfuge on Theon Greyjoy's part.
The Lannisters
Tywin. The patron of the house. Apparently killed by Tyrion as he fled the Castle at the end of book III, in revenge for what Tywin did to Tyrion's first wife.
Jaime. Tywin's oldest son. Jaime is his sister Cersei's lover, and the father of the three children that supposedly are Robert's.
Captured by Robb in book II, then set free by Cate in book III to be exchanged for Arya and Sansa, then captured by Voag Hoat, a loathsome sellsword and maimed, his sword hand cut off. Since he has returned to King's Landing and taken up the post of Commander of the King's Guard. None of the other knights realize how week he is.
When last we saw him Jaime had just rescued Tyrion from the dungeons, told Tyrion that truth of his first wife (that she was no prostitute), and then been spurned by his brother as a result. Tyrion lied to him, saying that he had killed Joffrey. He'll doubtless blame himself for his father's death, at Tyrion's hands, too.
Cersei. Tywin's daughter. An evil, evil bitch. Manipulative and cunning, one of the least likable people in the entire book. When last we saw her she was grieving over her son Joffrey and trying to have her brother Tyrion killed.
Tyrion. Tywin's second son, a dwarf. After ably defending King's Landing in book II, and being nearly killed, he was then spurned by pretty much his whole family. In book III he is married to Sansa, but never consumates the marriage because he wants his wife to come to love him first. At the New Year's Feast, when Joffrey is killed, Tyrion is blamed for the murder and fails to show his innocence via trial by jury or combat. He later confesses to Jaime that he did kill Joffrey, in a moment of anger, though this is false (apparently the elder Tyrell did).
At the end of book III, TYrion learns that his first wife was not a prostitute as his father had always told him, before he gave her to his guards, and he kills his father as a result. Afterward, he flees East, just as Arya has.
Of all the characters, Tyrion is most clearly based upon a character from the War of the Roses--Richard III. An irony. Like Richard, he is a dwarf, but unlike Richard he is a true hero, not a villain. Like Richard he is accused of killing his nephew (Joffrey) to take the throne; unlike Richard, this accusation is false. Clearly, Tommen should appear to fall by his hand as well.
Joffrey. The king is dead, poisoned, probably by Lady Olenna, Mace Tyrell's widowed mother. Good riddance.
Myrcella. The second child borne of Jaime and Cersei. Now a ward of the Martells.
Tommen. The third child of this incestuous union. Apparently a nice enough boy. Now 8. Now also the king.
Other Notables
Theon Greyjoy. This former companion of Robb's, once the ward of the Stark's, became a part of the attack on the north when he returned home seeking help for Robb. He later took Winterfell, but could not hold it. He pretended to kill Bran and Rickon to save face after they escaped. When the Bastard of Bolton took Winterfell they took Theon and probably still hold him alive, though part of his hand has been skinned.
Ser Davos. The onion knight, the hand of King Stannis, and one of our viewpoint characters through books II-III. When last we see Davos he is bringing Stannis a letter begging aid for the north. A few hundred pages later Stannis shows up with his army north of the wall, and fights back the army of wildlings there.
Queen Dany. An annoying queen who belongs in some other book than A Song of Fire & Ice's European-style fantasy. She is another who could claim the throne is rightfully hers, since she is one of 2 (perhaps 3) surviving Targaryens (the others being a maester on the wall and perhaps Jon Snow). She has raised a mighty army of freed slaves in the East, and is currently trying to bring peace to the three cities about slaver's bay before she continues her march onward to the free cities and eventually Westeros. Her three dragons continue to grow in size.
Queen Dany has been given a couple of prophecies by the sorcerers she killed in the far east.
The most notable is that she will be betrayed three times, once for blood, once for money, once for love. The "blood" is presumed to be the woman who cursed her womb and brought her husband back as a zombie. The "money" is presumed to be Ser Jorah Mormant, who has since been exiled. It was implied that the "love" might have been Ser Barristan, formerly of the Kingsguard, but I disbelieve. I think she still has one betrayal coming.
Also notable is that she has been told that the dragon has three heads, implying to her that she and her two husbands will together reconquer Westeros, riding their three dragons. Ser Mormant was at one time considered for this privilege, and more recently Brown Ben Plumm, a sellsword. I'm going to put Jon's name out again here, and maybe even Maester Aemon on the wall, because if my guesses about Jon are right, that implies that there are indeed three living Targaryens.
Petyr Littlefingers. A manipulative and evil man who has slowly been moving up through the ranks of power, and is behind much of the maneuvering of the books thus far. He convinced Lysa to kill her husband, Jon Arryn, setting everything into motion. He also conspired to ensure the death of Joffrey Baratheon. Most recently, he killed the Lady Lysa after marrying her. I'm sure we'll find out he was at the heart of other plots. Now he is threatening Sansa Stark, because he was always in love with her mother, Cate. Evil, evil, evil.
Berric Dondarrion. The lightning lord and Robert's last true knight. Essentially, Robin Hood, gathering a merry band of outlaws in the middle of the kingdom who ransom the rich and help the poor. He has been killed many times, raised by the red priest, THoros of Myr each time, and grows weary of life.
The Hound (Clegor Sandane). Fled King's Landing in Book II when the fires burned everywhere. Fond of Sansa and almost kind to her. Later captured Arya, but was left to die of an infected wound by her. Seemed almost fond of her two. A very messed up man.
Gregor Sandane. The hound's very evil brother. Poisoned by the Red Viper (Oberyn Martell) and being nursed back to health so that he can then be turned over to the Martells and killed, as vengeance for his slaying of their sister many years before. The mountain.
The War for Succession
With all of the candidates for King's Landing dead other than King Stannis and King Tommen it's not entirely obvious where we go from here. However, there are a few major issues remaining: the Others who are gathering their might beyond the wall; and Queen Dany who is gathering her might to the East. Add in Petyr Littlefingers and we could easily have 5 contenders once more fighting for the throne, which is to say nothing of the individual stories of the Starks, Jaime, and Tyrion.
In the end I expect to see Dany ascend to the throne, offer her hand to Jon as the Targaryens have done for generations, and then be rejected because he holds true to his vows. Jaime, the kingslayer, who slew Dany's father will be the next choice, and king who ultimately joins her, bringing peace to a shattered land.
At least that's one possibility ...
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