A Game of Thrones, Chapter 35, Eddard
Summary
Ned and Littlefinger visit brothel where they find another one of Robert’s bastards. Petyr doesn’t have any explanation why this meant death for Jon Arryn. On their way back to the keep they are stopped by Jaime and the Lannister soldiers. Jaime tries to provoke Ned to fight and when he’s unsuccessful he decides to kill his men.
Quotes
“They say the Hand dreams the king’s dreams, speaks with the king’s voice, and rules with the king’s sword. Does that also mean you fuck with the king’s-”
Ned Stark grimaced. Ugly tales like that were told of every great lord in the realm. He could believe it of Cersei Lannister readily enough… but would the king stand by and let it happen? The Robert he had known would not have, but the Robert he had known had never been so practiced at shutting his eyes to things he did not wish to see.
“Tregar, see that no harm comes to Lord Stark.”
“As you say, m’lord.”
“Still… we wouldn’t want him to leave here entirely unchastened, so” - through the night and the rain, he glimpsed the white of Jaime’s smile - “kill his men.”
Commentary
While Ned finds another bastard of Robert Baratheon Jaime Lannister learns about his brother’s fate.
I find Song of Ice and Fire books a full level higher in my excitement scale than most of other books I read. Most books, even those interesting ones, have some kind of story with action beats that make me sit up and think “That’s interesting!” . With SOIAF I read the books sitting up and every few chapters there are action beats that make me think “I can’t believe this is happening!”
This chapter is one of those beats. Jaime crosses the line again and confirms his position as the major evil character in the book. To teach Ned a lesson he orders his men killed. There was no point in this killing other than making Stark suffer.
As for the impact this has on the reader, again, Martin displays his mastery. He kills Jory, the same Jory that was Ned’s most trusted man, the same Jory who laughed and joked with Ned during his stay in Kings Landing. I could not believe that this was happening. After reading this chapter I thought that this book is too cruel for me to enjoy. But I kept on reading.
Tags: Eddard
