A Game of Thrones

“All that Daenerys wanted back was the big house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window, the childhood she had never known.”

Daenerys has spent her entire life in exile. For quite some time she and her brother lived in a pleasant location with the knight who smuggled them out of Westeros, but when he died, they were cast out onto the streets to fend for themselves. Daenerys’s desires for comfort and safety emphasize her youth and foreshadow how she will come of age in the novel, partly through her forced loss of innocence.

“When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.”

Jon sees how Tyrion still carries himself with dignity despite being a social outcast, and this gives Jon hope and inspiration for his own future. Tyrion outlines how he has much in common with a “bastard” like Jon, and he advises Jon to remember that not all those born with advantages are necessarily good people because of it.

“The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty.”

The dragon eggs Daenerys receives as a wedding gift symbolize the state of the Targaryen family. The once powerful Targaryens have now become nearly extinct, just as the dragons are gone and their eggs turned to stone. The eggs and the Targaryen family may seem dormant, but they contain a symbolic power waiting to be unleashed.

“My mind is my weapon.”

While Tyrion may not be able to wield a mighty sword, his intelligence is just as wicked a weapon. His intelligence also allows him to turn his stature into an advantage because no one expects someone like him to be able to outthink them.

“Oh, I love riding.”

The reader is aware that Sansa hates horse riding, but when Joffrey invites her to ride with him, she is eager to please him. It never occurs to her to express an opinion counter to her betrothed because she fears Joffrey will think poorly of her if she doesn’t acquiesce, and then her fairy tale will be ruined. Sansa’s socially advantageous lie also foreshadows how she will develop as a savvy member of court in later novels.

“Bran’s wolf had saved the boy’s life, he thought dully. What was it that Jon had said when they found the pups in the snow? Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord. And he had killed Sansa’s, and for what? Was it guilt he was feeling? Or fear? If the gods had sent these wolves, what folly had he done?”

Ned has just been informed about the danger threatening his family in King’s Landing. He executed Sansa’s direwolf out of his commitment to his honor as a subject of his king, but he now sees how the direwolves may have been provided by the gods to keep the Stark children safe. This “folly” (205) is one of the first hints to Ned that an unwavering sense of duty is a disadvantage in a society filled with untrustworthy and undutiful people.

“Can I be a king’s councilor and build castles and become the High Septon?”

The patriarchal nature of the Seven Kingdoms is a constant thorn in Arya’s side. She wishes she could fight with swords, rule a holding, or become an honored religious leader, but she is expected to be an obedient wife who produces heirs for her husband. Arya’s ambitions are limited by her gender in a society that demands conformity.

“I don’t mean to…to be like I am.”

Sam hates his own cowardice, but he is honest enough to admit it. Most of the characters in the novel struggle to come to terms with their own flaws, but Sam is made acutely aware of his cowardly nature on a regular basis. He has tried to fight against this nature and failed, but his blunt honesty is a credit to him when so many of his peers are unable to perceive their own failings.

“I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I’ve won it.“

Robert is restless and unsatisfied with being the king. Robert’s professed preference for battle over peacetime echoes the characterization of power throughout the novel: Many are eager to attain it but have little desire or ability to wield it for the good of others.

“Cersei had the babes killed, and sold the mother to a passing slaver.”

Littlefinger offers Ned a glimpse of Cersei’s malicious behavior while discussing how many illegitimate children Robert has fathered. What troubles Ned the most here, however, is that Robert seems to tolerate this kind of treachery and cruelty and often turns a blind eye to his wife’s offenses for the sake of peace. This is dishonorable and unacceptable for Ned, especially from his old friend, who used to be worthy of risking treason and death in his effort to take over the Iron Throne.

“He took from me all I loved, for the sake of a few lice-ridden poachers and his precious honor.”

Jorah Mormont hates Ned from across the Narrow Sea. He feels unduly punished by a man who puts honor and duty above everything else. The “lice-ridden poachers“ (390) were nothing of consequence to Jorah and deserved their fate, but to Ned, they were enough to drive Jorah into exile. The reader is already aware that Jorah is actually employed by Varys as a spy, but this is the first hint of Jorah’s duality since he promotes the same kind of adherence to honor with Daenerys that he abhors in Ned Stark.

“I killed him, Ned, I drove the spike right through that black armor into his black heart, and he died at my feet. They made up songs about it. Yet somehow he still won.”

Robert is talking to Ned just after an outburst where he violently strikes Cersei. He laments that all his heroic efforts to avenge his betrothed and take the throne have ended in a loveless marriage with a sharp-tongued wife. Though Robert won the throne in his rebellion, he still lost his beloved Lyanna, for whom the rebellion was started. Robert gained the throne, but he still lost his love and is stuck with the boring life of court and Cersei.

“He wants to make Ser Vardis chase him. The weight of armor and shield will tire even the strongest man.”

Bronn is lightly armored in comparison to the fully armored champion of the Vale. Bronn also waves away the offer of a shield. While it may appear to be a disadvantage, Bronn understands that the heavy armor will work against the knight if Bronn can prolong the fight. Bronn’s fighting technique mirrors Tyrion’s strategy to outthink his larger, more able-bodied foes. In this way, both Tyrion and his champion demonstrate that, when wielded carefully, intelligence and observation can defeat brute force. 

“A Lannister always pays his debts.”

Tyrion is fond of this saying, and he reiterates it twice in a conversation with Bronn. He understands that he does not have the commanding countenance of his brother or father, but what he does have is one of the only aspects of honor the Lannisters are considered to have: They always fulfill their promises, particularly when it comes to financial debts. It doesn’t hurt that the Lannisters are one of the wealthiest families in Westeros and even the king is in debt to them. By leveraging this reputation for making good on any compensation for help, Tyrion can maneuver his way through tough situations knowing that he is safe as long as there is a reward for his protectors at the end of the journey. As Tyrion has demonstrated by gaining his freedom from Catelyn Stark through bribery, gold can often accomplish seemingly impossible things.

“Life is not a song, sweetling. You may learn that one day to your sorrow.”

Sansa has told Littlefinger about how the gallant and beautiful knight is always righteous and victorious in the fight against treacherous monsters, which is why she is confused about her father sending anyone other than the lovely Ser Loras after the Mountain. Littlefinger is charmed by Sansa’s naivety, but his own tragic love story with her mother makes him cynical, and he warns Sansa that not all stories have happy endings.

“You wear your honor like a suit of armor, Stark. You think it keeps you safe, but all it does is weigh you down and make it hard for you to move.”

Littlefinger is blunt with Ned, and his comment mirrors Tyrion’s trial by combat, in which the cynical Bronn defeated the heavily armored knight. While an honorable man can be successful and safe among other honorable men, Ned is no longer among the honorable and must learn to maneuver more skillfully if he is to survive his time in King’s Landing.

“The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true.”

Syrio teaches Arya not to listen to the words people say but to observe the true meaning of their actions. Though her father will suffer from his lack of true seeing, Arya learns this lesson quickly enough to remain relatively unharmed and uncaptured when the Kingsguard comes to find her after her father has been arrested.

“Robb seemed half a stranger to Bran now, transformed, a lord in truth, though he had not yet seen his sixteenth name day.”

Robb is required to grow up quickly to satisfy the demands of his family and his bannermen. Bran observes the way Robb has effectively taken on the mantle of his responsibility and been transformed from a carefree teenager into a strong leader who is learning to command the respect of his bannermen.

“I could…but will I? No.”

Varys has come to talk to Ned while he is being held prisoner, and he explains to him the basic machinations of the situation. Ned observes that Varys’s actions have been ambiguous, but the fact that Varys has come to him and provided some privileged information makes Ned wonder whether Varys might be an ally. When he asks if Varys can get him out of the dungeon, he states this quote and explains that it would be obvious who allowed Ned to escape, so he is not interested in risking his own death for the sake of morals. This further illustrates the tricky situation Ned is in and how little defense his factual innocence provides.

“Either his lord father had a new respect for Tyrion’s abilities, or he’d decided to rid himself of his embarrassing get for good. Tyrion had the gloomy feeling he knew which.”

Tywin blames Tyrion for the death of his wife, and he is embarrassed by Tyrion’s dwarfism. He also blames Tyrion for the war that is brewing between the Lannisters and the Starks. However, Tywin still recognizes that Tyrion is his son, so disposing of him would not be ideal. Rather than killing Tyrion himself, he gives Tyrion the honor of leading the vanguard, hoping that he will die in battle. If he did die, not only would Tywin be rid of Tyrion, but Tyrion would also die a hero’s death, bringing honor in death that he cannot win in life. This ambiguity of Tywin’s feelings toward Tyrion mirrors Tyrion’s struggle between hating his father and yearning for his approval.

“I heard it was Stark killed old King Robert. Slit his throat in the woods, and when they found him, he stood there cool as you please and said it was some old boar did for His Grace.”

This quote is spoken by a common citizen in King’s Landing as Ned is brought to the sept to publicly announce his treason. It illustrates the divide between the highborn and the smallfolk since it makes it clear that the political intrigue going on in the Red Keep is little more than gossip to the people it doesn’t directly affect. Further, while the looming threat of the white walkers helps to illustrate how ultimately petty the game of thrones is when viewed in the big picture, this banter and difference of opinion among the common people illustrates how the games are ultimately pointless on a smaller scale as well. It makes little difference who is on the throne to the men and women in the town whose biggest concern is making sure they have food in their bellies and a roof over their children’s heads.

“There are no heroes.”

After losing her father and being bullied and imprisoned by the Lannisters, Sansa is beginning to understand the contrast between her favorite stories and reality. Whereas her stories are filled with brave men doing honorable deeds, she has seen the most honorable man she knows beheaded unjustly. The reality of Joffrey’s justice is a lesson to Sansa, warning her that she must abandon her naïve and childish views of the world.

“Are you a brother of the Night’s Watch…or only a bastard boy who wants to play at war?”

After a lifetime of feeling excluded and alienated wherever he goes, Jon has finally found a place where he belongs. The Night’s Watch means so much to Jon because they are willing to take anyone, and even the lowest born has an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks to a position of respect and honor. The maester is giving him the opportunity to understand how fighting for his father will bring him nothing but execution for breaking his oath since he can never inherit his father’s name or land, but upholding his oath can bring him honor and the opportunity to become a respected leader on his own.