they should have killed the masters

"M'lady? You look sad. Are you thinking of your sister?" The dwarf patted her on the hand. "The Crone will light your way to her, never fear. The Maiden will keep her safe."

"I pray that you are right."

The Parallels of Περσεφονη and Princess Arya Stark

Different Roads: Castle Black

Bellegere Otherys

ARYA STARK AND THE GODS ❦ BOURNE FOR THE GOD OF DEATH

Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King. The Stranger had his shrine as well, though hardly anyone ever came to him. Most of the time only a single candle stood flickering at his feet. The kindly man said it did not matter. "He has many faces, and many ears to hear."

The Many-Faced God, also known as Him of Many Faces, is a deity worshipped by the Faceless Men, a guild of assassins established in the Free City of Braavos. The tale of the guild's beginnings centers around a figure of unknown origins, the first Faceless Man, who heard the prayers of the slaves to their various gods of death and came to conclude they all prayed to the same god "with a hundred different faces", the Many-Faced God, and that he was "that god's instrument".

This belief came to be reflected in the Guild's temple, which has a large public sanctuary that contains idols of thirty death gods. The religious order refills its pool of black water with a poison, so that drinking from it leads to a painless death. Visiting worshippers light candles to their god, then drink from the fountain using a stone cup, then go lie in one of the alcoves. Others take advantage of special alcoves, called "dreaming couches", which have special candles that bring visions of the past, for a sweet and gentle death.

Followers of Him of Many Faces consider death to be part of the natural order of things and a merciful end to suffering. The guild will agree to kill anyone in the known world, for a price, considering this contract to be a sacrament of their god. The price is always high or dear, but within means of the person if they are willing to make the sacrifice. The cost of their services also depends on the prominence and security of the target.

When Jaime and Roose are having dinner at Harrenhal and talking with each other, it’s a key chapter in Roose's decision. At that point, I don't think Roose is completely committed yet. He's trying to decide which side he's gonna come down on, and he's been presented with Jaime, whose hand has been cut off by men who are ostensibly fighting for him, so he's concerned - “Am I gonna be held responsible for maiming Lord Tywin's favorite son? A Lannister always pays his debts!”. Roose is really feeling out Jaime in that scene, there's a lot of careful dialogue in that sequence. There's two men, neither one really saying what they're saying.

a boy no longer

Of course the whole idea of chivalry is sexist, which is why Sansa’s narrative is largely about deconstructing the relations between knights and ladies, but disabled men are also excluded by chivalry so I find it hard to blame Tyrion for wishing he could inhabit that role.

I mean the idea that Sansa owes Tyrion anything is complete bullshit, and it’s horrible that she is even forced into that position, but I don’t understand why people think it’s progressive to criticize a disabled person for fantasizing about being a hero.

That’s why it’s powerful when Tyrion says that he can be good to Sansa or when he compares himself to the Knight of Flowers or when he tells Joffrey that Sansa is not hers to torment or when he thinks about how it’s his duty to protect Sansa as her husband. He’s doing something that’s entirely unexpected of him as a disabled person and presenting himself as someone worthy of the same kind of idealized masculinity that able bodied men are expected to have.

Tyrion himself points the audience toward the fundamental problem of how he’s relating to Sansa when he compares himself to the Knight of Flowers.  The Knight of Flowers is exactly one of the False Knights Sansa has had to learn to guard herself against!  Loras Tyrell was gallant and chivalrous toward her to the exact limit of what benefited himself and House Tyrell, and not a whit beyond.  Tyrion absolutely had more concern for Sansa’s personal wellbeing than Loras, but both Knights of Flowers in the end put the their House’s gain before Sansa’s personal well-being.  Yes, it is objectively better for Sansa for Tyrion to protect her from Joffrey’s beatings.  Yes, it is objectively better for Sansa to not be raped than to be raped.  Yes, it is objectively better for Sansa to be kept in a cage with nice cushions and food and other comforts than for her to be kept in a cage of metal gratings and a bare metal floor.  But it is objectively bad to keep her in a cage at all!  THAT is where I have a problem with applauding Tyrion’s behavior towards Sansa in their marriage: he never acts as a TRUE knight for her interests.  Even though he knows full well that it’s the marriage to a Lannister, ANY Lannister, that is most painful for her, he never once considers a way to spirit her away to DISSOLVE THE MARRIAGE SHE WAS FORCED INTO AT SWORDPOINT.  He thinks about them leaving together, but that’s as much if not more about his own discomfort and abuse from his family than what would actually make Sansa happy.

I’m not trying to say that Tyrion should have been able to make this step at that point in his character development.  I’m aware that he’s also an abuse victim, and that it’s hard to break away from abusive environments.  Tyrion doing so at that time would probably have been as unrealistic as Theon moving to rescue Jeyne any sooner than he did.  Nor am I under any illusions that it wouldn’t have been extremely dangerous for Tyrion, especially as a disabled man.  ADWD proved that, didn’t it?  But I think Martin is uncompromising in what it means to be a hero:

“Seven, Brienne thought again, despairing.  She had no chance against seven, she knew.  No chance, and no choice.

She stepped out into the rain, Oathkeeper in hand.”

And honestly, I agree. 

I’m sure Tyrion will be one of the three saviors of the world, but he’s not there.  Yet.

And so much of what these books are about IS about this, about people acting within the boundaries they are forced into, and I think ignoring those boundaries is very much NOT a good approach to that Brienne quote. This is like saying that Sansa should fight seven men and free herself from King’s Landing or die trying. It’s unreasonable to expect that of her and victim blaming to criticize her for not doing that.

I’m not sure what you mean about exceptionalism except maybe you think I’m saying that Tyrion is The One Good Man to Sansa and that he deserves her? Because that is not what I’m saying. I’m saying that sometimes doing the heroic thing means helping in whatever small way you can, even if it’s not enough, and that heroism looks differently when you’re in an oppressive or abusive situation. I don’t really see how that’s “upholding an abusive power structure” because Tyrion neither chose nor wanted the marriage to begin with. Tyrion’s in a position where the people in power are using him to uphold an abusive power structure, which is different from Cersei and Jaime using their power to gain more power for House Lannister.

ARYA STARK AND THE GODS ❦ WARD OF THE RED GOD

Arya remembered Thoros of Myr in his bits of old armor, worn over robes so faded that he had seemed more a pink priest than a red one. Yet his kiss had brought Lord Beric back from death. She watched the red god’s house drift by, wondering whether these Braavosi priests of his could do the same.

The religion’s prime deity is known by many names to his worshippers - the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. Beyond his following, he is most commonly referred to as the Red God, and his proper name is R’hllor. The religion is based on a dualistic, manichean view of the world, with near equal import given to R’hllor’s nemesis, the Great Other, whose name may not be spoken, who is also referred to as the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror.

They are locked in an eternal struggle over the fate of the world; a struggle that, according the ancient prophecies from the books of Asshai, will only end when Azor Ahai, the messianic figure, returns wielding a flaming sword called Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and raises dragons from stone. A prophecy found in ancient books of Asshai claims that after a long summer, an evil cold darkness shall fall on the world. Azor Ahai, wielding the sword Lightbringer, shall be reborn to combat this darkness.

Worship of R’hllor is practiced primarily in Essos and the Temple in Volantis has been called the greatest temple in the known world. All those who serve there are slaves who were bought as children and trained. Whether this is the case in other cities is unknown. Red priests are taught prayers and spells, and are trained to see things in fires. According to the priestess Melisandre, the Lord of Light cherishes innocent and beautiful people and items, making them the most precious sacrifice.

It had been five years, in truth; five cruel years, for Lysa. They had taken their toll. Her sister was two years the younger, yet she looked older now. Shorter than Catelyn, Lysa had grown thick of body, pale and puffy of face. She had the blue eyes of the Tullys, but hers were pale and watery, never still. Her small mouth had turned petulant. As Catelyn held her, she remembered the slender, high-breasted girl who’d waited beside her that day in the sept at Riverrun. How lovely and full of hope she had been. All that remained of her sister’s beauty was the great fall of thick auburn hair that cascaded to her waist.

♕ DAENERYS APPRECIATION MONTH ♕ Day 2 → Favourite Book Moment

‟I was alone for a long time, Jorah. All alone but for my brother. I was such a small scared thing. Viserys should have protected me, but instead he hurt me and scared me worse. He shouldn’t have done that. He wasn’t just my brother, he was my king. Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?ˮ

‟Some kings make themselves. Robert did.ˮ

THEON MONTH 2022 || Day 20: Gods and Religious Themes

Lifting the skin, his uncle pulled the cork and directed a thin stream of seawater down upon Theon’s head. It drenched his hair and ran over his forehead into his eyes. Sheets washed down his cheeks, and a finger crept under his cloak and doublet and down his back, a cold rivulet along his spine. The salt made his eyes burn, until it was all he could do not to cry out. He could taste the ocean on his lips. “Let Theon your servant be born again from the sea, as you were,” Aeron Greyjoy intoned. “Bless him with salt, bless him with stone, bless him with steel.”

~ A Clash of Kings

The old gods, he thought. They know me. They know my name. I was Theon of House Greyjoy. I was a ward of Eddard Stark, a friend and brother to his children. “Please.” He fell to his knees. “A sword, that’s all I ask. Let me die as Theon, not as Reek.” Tears trickled down his cheeks, impossibly warm. “I was ironborn. A son… a son of Pyke, of the islands.”

A leaf drifted down from above, brushed his brow, and landed in the pool. It floated on the water, red, five-fingered, like a bloody hand.

~ The Winds of Winter

Well, the whole connection between Stark and direwolf is interesting and very symbolic. It’s also very powerful and important, which means that Sansa and Arya have had to struggle through being separated from theirs.

It’s pretty complex in my opinion.

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