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Lord Varys' casual reread of the entire series


Lord Varys

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I've recently begun a casual reread of the entire series in light of TWoIaF and other recently revealed things. If I find the time, I'll continue this thread and list things I did not consciously remember during earlier readings:



Prologue



- The Others are clearly watching the NW men somehow. Gared and Will are feeling very uncomfortable. The cold wind seems to be caused by them/indicating their presence nearby, and it is very interesting that it stops when the Others are there - then it is only very cold, but the wind has stopped (that could be a hint that the Others are emanating coldness).



- The weird color-changing armors/clothes of the Others may be a hint that they usually use a sort glamor that is supposed to disguise them as good as possible.



- The swords of the Others are clearly weapons contains ice magic. They emanate blue light similar to the eyes of the Others and the wights, and also spread an unnatural cold. Ser Waymar's blade is frozen before it breaks.



Bran 1



- When Jon Snow states that he is not a Stark, Ned looks at him thoughtfully, suggesting that Ned either thinks about the fact that Jon Snow is, in fact, a legitimate Stark on his mother's side or that he is indeed not a Stark but in a different sense that Jon himself thinks.



- The whole Baratheon-Stark symbolism with the antler in the throat of the direwolf is a lot more present than I originally remembered but nobody is mentioning it explicitly. Bran just realizes that the people are suddenly afraid. It later comes up more explicitly when Catelyn discusses it in her thoughts.



Catelyn 1



- The whole stuff about the cut-down weirwoods in the South has been changed/retconned subsequently. Cat makes it appear as if no castle in the South has any weirwood with carved faces as heart trees in their godswoods which is proven wrong in the same novel (in her last chapter when Robb prays in the godswood of Riverrun). George even continued that tendency by adding a weirwood with a face to Casterly Rock, Oldtown, Harrenhal, and - most remarkable - Highgarden. The Three Singers should actually be the most powerful hub of weirwood/greenseer power south of the Wall.


Mentioning the Isle of Faces as the only exception foreshadows the eventual importance of that place - this continues in Daenerys 1 where Dany/Viserys list the Isle of Faces as one of the places the Targaryens have lost.



- Celia Tully is confirmed to be no ancestor of Cat, Lysa, and Edmure, respectively, as Catelyn remembers that her paternal grandfather and great-grandfather were given their names in the sept of Riverrun.



Daenerys 1



- The age of Viserys by the time of his escape to Dragonstone seems to be wrong. But he could already have been eight when Willem Darry fled with the Targaryen children to Braavos.



- The Aegon plan is foreshadowed by Illyrio's hint of smile when he Viserys proclaims he'll slay Robert and Jaime with his own hands. It is quite clear that George wants us to mistrust Illyrio's motives/ask ourselves why he is doing what he does.



- Dany is announced as 'Daenerys Stormborn [King Viserys' sister], Princess of Dragonstone' suggesting that Viserys has publicly named/considers Dany his heir.



Eddard 1



- Ned acknowledges that Robert had loved Lyanna even more than he had, suggesting that Ned was presumably fully pro the Robert-Lyanna match until the very end. Robert was and still is his friend. Rhaegar never was.



- The description suggests to me that Robert dealt Rhaegar the mortal blow while they were still both mounted.



- The Warden title seems to be an office/honor which is granted and taken by the Iron Throne. Usually the Lords Arryn, Lannister, Tyrell, and Stark hold the office but actually it is up to the king to decide who is named Warden when a previous Warden died. Robert decide to not name Robert Arryn Warden of the East.



Jon 1



- Jon Snow's impression of Myrcella seems to be inaccurate/biased as we later learn that she is actually a pretty bright girl. Most likely because Jon was in fact pissed about being not allowed to sit on the dais. He mentions a little too often that he liked sitting with the common men, and is feels really humiliate when Benjen tries to dissuade him from joining the NW.


I'd assume that Myrcella is somewhat shy around Robb and generally not that open in this new environment she has never been. This also seems to be the case in the first Arya chapter when she does not appear all that talented in the womanly arts nor behaving particularly regal.



- Jon comparing Jaime Lannister to how a true king should look like may be a remnant from George's early vision/intention to make Jaime king after he had removed every other claimant in his way (including Sansa's son by Joffrey).



- Doubts about Tyrion's parentage are introduced. Jon Snow proclaims Tyrion is 'you are your mother's trueborn son of Lannister', and Tyrion answers 'Am I? Do tell my lord father. My mother died birthing me, and he's never been sure.' The obvious irony there is that the legitimate prince disguised as a bastard may tell the bastard disguised as a legitimate Lannister that he is legitimate - Jon is completely buying things as they appear to be while Tyrion is at least entertaining the idea that they may not be the way they appear. Tyrion standing as tall as a king fits into that nicely, too. Not just as foreshadowing of him becoming a great and important man, but also a hint about his true parentage.



Catelyn 2



- Ned supposedly slew Ser Arthur Dayne in single combat. Yandel didn't make that tidbit up, it is gossip originating with the Stark soldiers/levies.



- Ned effectively confirms that Jon Snow isn't his son/not born as a bastard when he refers to him as 'a boy with a bastard's name'.



- Ned also seems to be not all that happy about the NW idea for Jon. He looks shocked at first, and then talks as if he has intended to tell Jon the truth about his parentage before he would make a decision what to do with his life. It is a real pity that George has not given us nor referred to that scene when Ned actually talked to Jon about his decision to sort of force him to take the Black - that this is not completely Jon's wish when he does is reflected in Bran 2 when Bran mentions that Jon has been quite pissed these few days.



Arya 1



- The whole stuff about Joffrey's personal armor showing both the Baratheon and the Lannister arms also seems to foreshadow the original plan to have the Lannisters (King Jaime) openly usurping the Iron Throne later on in the story.



That's it for the time being. Comments are welcome.


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