Re-reading Song of Ice and Fire

Chapter 3, Daenerys
Summary
Daenerys Targaryen prepares for her wedding with Kahl Drogo, Dorthaki horselord. In the meantime she remembers her entire life on exile. Dany and her brother Viserys were the last of the House of Targaryen, the House that once ruled Seven Kingdoms. Robert’s rebellion put an end to their ruling making Dany and Viserys the only survivors and heirs to the Iron Throne. They live as guests in Magister Illyrio’s residence in the Free City of Pentos.

Dany’s wedding is in reality a trade. The princess is the price her brother pays for a promise that Kahl Drogo will conquer the Seven Kingdoms for him. Dany doesn’t want to marry Drogo not only because she doesn’t like the idea of being sold, but also because she believes she should marry her brother, Viserys, according to Targaryen tradition of “not mingling their blood with that of lesser men”.

Dany, Viserys and Illyrio are carried to the wedding in a palanquin. During the wedding they meet Ser Jorah Mormont, a knight from Seven Kingdoms seeking refuge beyond the sea after committing crime in Westeros.

Quotes

“The savages have queer tastes. Boys, horses, sheep…”
“Best not suggest this to Kahl Drogo” Illyrio said.

“I’d let his whole khalasar fuck you if need be, sweet sister, all forty thousand men, and their horses too if that was what it took to get my army.”

Commentary

Another very important chapter, we’re introduced to the POV character of the second parallel storyline in SoIaF. Daenerys Targaryen’s storyline runs alongside the main story in Seven Kingdoms. The two almost completely independent stories touch here and there in the first four books, but it’s obvious that they will collide before the saga ends.

This chapter, when I’ve read it for the first time made me realize that this is not an ordinary high fantasy I’ve been expecting. The vile character of Viserys and the mention of incest being a Great House tradition were a clear indication that SoIaF is much more real and brutal than most of the fantasy books I have read.