[TWOW Spoilers] NEW Chapter Discussion - "Mercy"

[Pod The Impaler]

Thoughts on this:

- I love the chapter, with all its weird little references. Including the last one. There's a bit of Richard III in it, clearly, but I also was expecting the Hamlet-like play-about-real-life implications.

- The shock at the beginning text wore off fast once I realized that not only is Mercy an actress, but Arya seems to think of her as a somewhat sleazy and empty-headed girl, because that's how Arya plays her. (Yet, if she is wearing Mercy's face, what must this be doing to her psyche?)

- My personal feeling is that the playwright might be Syrio Forel's son. The play is clearly designed to show the Lannister / pro-Joffrey regime viewpoint - but I wonder, is that because of the guests coming to see it are Lannister men, or because Forel may be angry about his father dying in some coup across the sea, and blames someone (the Starks, Tyrion, etc.) ? Something's going to happen here. A bravo's blade is not unlike a quill, and it's not the first time we've seen the motif of sword fighting as art written in blood.

- I wonder if Arya actually understands what the play is truly about, or not - a case can be made for either possibility.

- The way Raff was keen to go after Bobono made me think that would be how he got lured out to his doom. Not sure I like the way Arya chose - not because it is unseemly, but rather because it risks coming back on her.

- As good as the story is, it fills me with dread. I can handle the idea of Arya as someone able to kill the way she did, but what worries me is how the Faceless Men will take it. This kill was personal, and they were already hard on her for the last one. She may have learned to lie to ordinary people, but she best not try it with them.

- That being said, the Many Faced God pretty much delivered Raff to her gift-wrapped, right down to his last words. If the MFG is favouring her in this way, is she not his holy instrument ?

[Ran]

Re: lemon trees, I wasn't aware there was a crackpot theory that Dany was in fact secretly raised in Dorne, but ... yeah, crackpot. Two Lannister guards aren't exactly experts. Arya stating "no trees" is clearly an exaggeration, since there are trees on the slopes. Elsewhere in the novels, it's allowed that trees may decorate the courts or gardens of the wealthier types in Braavos.

What she means is that, yes, from what she can see, the city itself is just all built up -- no parks and the like -- but I dare say there are gardens, and there are likely citrus trees at wealthier houses. If frost is an issue, that's easily fixed: potting. The lemon tree she remembers might have been potted, and brought in when it was colder.

Much easier solution than supposing a basic detail of Dany's history is entirely wrong.

[Lord Browndodd]

Could Mercy be playing the part of Arya Stark?

I know perfectly well that Tyrion has nothing to do with Arya, but he has nothing to do with the death of Robert, either, which features in the play (and might well be attributed to Tyrion by the author). It would fit with Mercy playing the part of a minor character with a few lines.

[WiDMNDBAMMD]

Could Mercy be playing the part of Arya Stark?

I know perfectly well that Tyrion has nothing to do with Arya, but he has nothing to do with the death of Robert, either, which features in the play (and might well be attributed to Tyrion by the author). It would fit with Mercy playing the part of a minor character with a few lines.

Well since Syrio Forel wrote the play I guess anything is possible right?

[Newstar]

- The way Raff was keen to go after Bobono made me think that would be how he got lured out to his doom.

I'm kind of surprised Bobono has managed to last this long as it's open season on dwarfs. Maybe his status as a mummer affords him some protection. Playing Tyrion is a dangerous game, as some might wonder (as Raff did) whether Bobono was Tyrion merely deliberately hiding himself in plain sight. I wouldn't be surprised to learn in a later chapter that someone had the same thinking and acted accordingly.

Someone on Reddit pointed out that in AFFC Cersei heard from someone who claimed that he had seen Tyrion perform in a mummer's show in Braavos. Bobono, maybe? Arya does say that every mummer's group has a dwarf.

[MercyTheBlindUglyLittleCat]

Re: lemon trees, I wasn't aware there was a crackpot theory that Dany was in fact secretly raised in Dorne, but ... yeah, crackpot. Two Lannister guards aren't exactly experts. Arya stating "no trees" is clearly an exaggeration, since there are trees on the slopes. Elsewhere in the novels, it's allowed that trees may decorate the courts or gardens of the wealthier types in Braavos.

What she means is that, yes, from what she can see, the city itself is just all built up -- no parks and the like -- but I dare say there are gardens, and there are likely citrus trees at wealthier houses. If frost is an issue, that's easily fixed: potting. The lemon tree she remembers might have been potted, and brought in when it was colder.

Much easier solution than supposing a basic detail of Dany's history is entirely wrong.

Exactly. Occam's razor doesn't always fit with fiction, unlike with reality, but people (myself included) should keep simplicity in mind when it comes to their theories more.

[Lord Browndodd]

Love the way GRRM references the conspiracy theories over Shakespeare's identity by giving his playwright the surname Forel.

[The Abominable SnowOther]

Love the way GRRM references the conspiracy theories over Shakespeare's identity by giving his playwright the surname Forel.

biggest troll kick ever

[Moondancer]

Is it weird that I was more disturbed by this chapter than I was by Theon's ADWD arc? So much wrong: Arya confidently going through the motions of seducing Raff with the ease of a seasoned prostitute, Arya coolly weighing the pros and cons of giving blowjobs for benefits (and deciding against it lest she get a reputation), Arya not only luring Raff to his death but getting him to say the perfect lines to complete her revenge, Arya having no thoughts whatsoever about reenacting the supposed rape and murder of her sister (assuming her role was meant to be Sansa), etc. All this from an 11 year old child who hasn't even had her first period (she "lies" that she's a maiden when the guardsman insists she's a child). SO. MUCH. WRONG.

With that said, I think this was the best of the TWOW chapters released to date, and the best of the Braavos chapters by far. The bastardized, X-rated ASOIAF Richard III was inspired.

I understand what you mean.

But, have you noticed how Arya (the Arya from the beginning, the end, and the one who notices Raff) is detached from Mercy? As if there were two streams of consciousness?

I didn't see Arya in those moments with Raff. To me it seemed that she only uses a part of one's experience, or rather employ "knowledge" she picked up on her way... You know, like when kids pick up swear words, but don't comprehend the meaning of their doing?

If anything, I find her ability to shut out the world more disturbing. It dehumanises her, but it also protects her.

Also, she's is mercilessly relentless.

[ashbot9000]

Here's my crack pot theory: The play is a wedding and its meant to utter piss off Lannisters, specifically Jaime/.

"The play should be called The Blue Wedding by Tyrion J Lannister instead of Bloody Hand by Pseudonym Forel

When GrrM released the preview chapter on his livejournal, he said 'something old and something new' as in the old time wedding rhyme about what to a bride should wear for good luck so I thought it would be Sansa and Harry the Heir's wedding chapter but what if its a satire of Jaime's wedding to Brienne? Check out the four items of Mercy's costume and the way it matches the poem.

Something Borrowed, the good luck Poem for Brides :

Something old-Mercy's old brown leather boots and socks ,salt stained like Brienne's

something new-Mercy's fruit knife prop sword , stand in for Oathkeeper

something borrowed- Mercy's gold purse, stand in for Jaime. Borrowed could refer to the couple weeks they disappeared , as in she borrowed him from the Queen and has to give him back.

something blue- mercy's blue rope hempen belt. Blue is stand in for Brienne and the rope represents her hanging as well as the way they tie people's hands together when they get married in the faith of the Seven. Its the playwrights way of saying 'your marriage is her death." the noose and the ties are marriage being the same rope equal her death/rape/murder.

and a silver sixpence in her shoe- Brienne hides shit in her shoes plus the character of Mercy seems to be dressed to swing, like all the visuals being on the feet /shoes. t

Mercy's costume for the play is described as such: She "slipped a shapeless brown wool dress down over her head.....Her boots were lumps of old brown leather mottled with saltstains and cracked from long wear, her belt a length of hempen rope dyed blue.

Doesn't this sound like brown wool dress Brienne had to wear in the cave? the leather boots she wore out and were stained from the saltpans,plus the character is a maiden with a sword and a purse of gold, but the biggest thing to me is the blue (c'mon) hempen ( like the ones that bound Brienne ) rope around her waist. Is the blue hempen rope symbolic of the rope that Brienne hung from?

Maybe thats what they use to hang Arya/Mercy when she's raped and murdered?

there's a lot in the play to call out to Shae and Tysha, such as ma lord but also to Cersei and Jaime's sexual relationship, like Bonono's prop dick flopping out due to failed pants laces which seems like a direct reference to cersei's last attempt to blow jaime.

remember he didn't want to tuck back in until she'd left because of fumbling embarrassment, maybe someone saw that? wasn't meryn trant in the white sword tower that night? The brown wool dress would also call back to the night in eel alley when they were 15 but also the brown dress Sansa has to wear when she escapes the Purple Wedding.

Tyrion (or someone who wants to make it appears so-Varys maybe? ) wrote this play. Its full of things to piss off the Lannister/Westerosi envoy but its very specific to a lot of trauma suffered by people Jaime loves (Brienne and Cersei) or has let down (Sansa / Tysha). This whole play is calling Jaime out, basically.

So I think Raff the Sweetling (duh) and Shit mouth from Harrenhal are the guards outside the door, based on calling Gregor 'Ser' like he did with Jaime and the way he speaks like 'bloody bugger' ' bugger me this and that" and how they say they are lords. Maybe they got lorded when they helped Jaime with the Brotherhood problem.

Take this exchange:

“What, are you mad? You think he notices the likes of us? Bloody bugger don’t even get our names right half the time. Maybe it was different with Clegane.” Doesn't Jaime have problems remembering random people's names? the lords names always 'coming back with the retelling' so he calls them by their sigels .

Then there's : “How long do you think we’ll be here?”

“Longer than you’d like,” the old man replied. “If he goes back without the gold the queen will have his head. Besides, I seen that wife of his. There’s steps in Casterly Rock she can’t go down for fear she’d get stuck, that’s how fat she is. Who’d go back to that, when he has his sooty queen?”

Harys Swift isn't married though so Raff and Shitmouth aren't talking about him.Lets call this unknown person Husband (since he's got a wife), the person leading the Envoy to the Iron Bank that Harys is the face of. Husband is on the Queen's bad side, has a wife that's a big girl,lives in Casterly Rock and her looks are enough to make people wonder if he'll return to her, and people are questioning whether he'll return to his big, ugly wife since he's got a sooty queen.

Who does that sound like?

So why call Brienne fat instead of tall? Lady Stork might have the answer as in Storks bring Babies. Its a fan theory that Brienne and Jaime ran off to the Quiet Isle where you have to get married to spend the night together so they did. Brienne's pining for a babby by the end of FFC and is super sad at one because she doesn't think she'll ever have that chance so it would be sweet.

Even if Jaime didn't secretly ship off to trade with the Banks for enough cash to repel the Ironborn (Like lord Hihgtower is doing in Sam's chapters) , Harys probably has enough awareness of what the play is saying to relay the message, which is 'I'm going to murder and rape your old lady,brother."

Maybe the reason the play has a girl in a brienne/cersei custome being raped and hung is a threat. If any of the four women Tyrion's play is referencing are still alive , its pretty easy to read between the lions and see what he's getting at.

TL DR- Tyrion (or someone close enough to him and his brother to know their fucked up issues in great detail and nuance) wrote a satirical play about Jaime's wedding as it reflects his failure as a person. I super hope Jaime's not with the Envoy on the balcony, that he's down in the pit were the actors can't see him.

How fucked up would it be to be to go to a play and see the worst parts of your life and the ones you loved re-enacted by little dead Stark girls ? Thats a real unwitting mind fuck."

[Mithras]

“I have given you my home and heart, do they mean nothing to you? I have given you perfume and pomegranates, tumbling monkeys and spitting snakes, scrolls from lost Valyria, an idol’s head and a serpent’s foot. I have given you this palanquin of ebony and gold, and a matched set of bullocks to bear it, one white as ivory and one black as jet, with horns inlaid with jewels.”

In this passage, there are some references to future companions for Dany (for example the bullocks to carry Dany across the water are Victarion and Marwyn). The tumbling monkeys are Tyrion and Penny because Tyrion was called a monkey several times.

And the Mercy chapter clearly pinpoints this as the character to play Tyrion in the Bloody Hand is called Bobono, a clear reference to Bonobo, which is popularly known for its high levels of sexual behavior.

[WiDMNDBAMMD]

Here's my crack pot theory: The play is a wedding and its meant to utter piss off Lannisters, specifically Jaime/.

Mercy's costume for the play is described as such: She "slipped a shapeless brown wool dress down over her head.....Her boots were lumps of old brown leather mottled with saltstains and cracked from long wear, her belt a length of hempen rope dyed blue.

So I think Raff the Sweetling (duh) and Shit mouth from Harrenhal are the guards outside the door, based on calling Gregor 'Ser' like he did with Jaime and the way he speaks like 'bloody bugger' ' bugger me this and that" and how they say they are lords. Maybe they got lorded when they helped Jaime with the Brotherhood problem.

Crackpot indeed. The play is not meant to piss off the envoy, the ship is there to make money, the King of Mummers wants them to put on a good show and for the Westeros envoy to enjoy themselves.

Mercy's costume is not her costume for the play but the clothes that she wears to get to the play. The King of Mummer's hated it when people wore his costumes in the streets.

The two guards claim they're lords because a little young girl that barely speaks common tongue called them lords.

I tried to read through the Jaime/Brienne stuff but it all seemed speculative.

Nice try though better than anything I could come up with.

[Rishav Banka]

That was amazing. So happy to read "Arya" toward the end there.

YES! That was so subtle I almost missed it.

Also, do we know for sure that Izembaro is a faceless man?? Isn't it possible that he is just a mummer to whom the old man sends Arya to learn tricks of a mummer such as disguise and acting?

[Jaime FTW]

Well since Syrio Forel wrote the play I guess anything is possible right?

Syrio Forel is dead.

[Rooseman]

So, this chapter confirms it. Syrio Forel is still alive, writing plays under the name of Phario Forel (10 points for creativity, Syrio). I'm picturing him with a fake mustache.

[Ser Tahu]

My thoughts on the chapter:

- Forel is alive! Not the one we want, but at least it's something! :P

- before the dwarf was introduced I thought 'The Bloody Hand' would portray Ned as evil, not Tyrion. Either way, it was a nice (read: evil) touch by GRRM

- the chapter seemed to imply that Cersei is once again in charge of King's Landing, if only for a time.

- the entire sequence at the end with Raff was perfect

- this is almost certainly going to increase the tension between the Braavosi and King's Landing. With the impending arrival of Justin Massey and Tycho Nestoris, the battle between Stannis and the Lannisters could easily spill over into Braavos

- I'm curious as to how they will tackle this in the show - Polliver is the last soldier on her list in the show, and he is almost certainly going to die in S4. If my above analysis is correct, how will they create that extra tension in the city itself? Perhaps they will just have Arya kill a random Lannister guard?

- Arya is so far gone O.O...

- WHEN WILL WE GET TO READ MORE?!? :P

[Niamhikus]

I don't know if this is me confusing the show with the book, but could this be a nod to Yoren's threat to the Gold Cloaks when they come the first time to collect Gendry?

exactly what i thought!!! the symetry!!!

[Queen of Whores]

I found Arya's chapters in Feast and Dance to be really boring and uneventful, but this chapter was awesome. I find it darkly funny how casual Arya is about sex and stuff like that, compared to Sansa. Also great to see the events in Essos linking up more with what's happening in Westeros. A great chapter overall, and hopefully the rest of the book is as good as this.

[Mithras]

It was rare to find the second balcony more than half full at the Gate; such of the mighty who relished a night of mummery were more inclined to visit the Dome or the Blue Lantern, where the offerings were considered subtler and more poetic.

We had several mummer shows in KL which were meant to represent politics. I think the playwriters in Braavos are not simply playwriters. All these mummer shows are used to represent political messages. For an audience with affinity to such political readings from a mummer show, the Dome or Blue Lantern serve better because they play subtler and more poetic plays. However, for savages like the Westerosi, the Gate might be a better choice because the Westerosi audience can understand the messages better with the low quality play presented there.

OTOH, neither Cersei nor Harys Swyft are clever enough to understand anything from a mummer show. The subtlest message they can comprehend would be sending the head of Swyft to the KL.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

She's suppose to be twelve right? All the people disturbed by the sexuality (really a kiss and a grope is all that's performed) haven't met 12 year olds, when I was 12 15 years ago I knew other kids who were devirginized and doing much worse than her, compared to our society (minus the killing) she probably behind sexuality wise for an average kid her age. Just food for thought.

Amazing chapter go arya (come on winds! Come out soon I beg thee)

Ah yes, but you have to remember that people really don't want to have to admit this... if you look around you'll see lots of heads in the sand.