Interesting lines on the re-read? (hindsight)

[kaanchanoone]

So obvious it's pretty much taken for granted. Which doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work out the way we'd expect.

Haha does anything ever work out like we'd expect? That'd good though. Keeps us on our toes!

[kaanchanoone]

When Melisandre is talking about the glamor used on Mance to make him look like Rattleshirt -

"The strongest glamors are built of such things. A dead man's boots, a hank of hair, a bag of fingerbones."

A bag of fingerbones...like the ones Davos lost??

[sanzor]

When Sandor tells Sansa in AGoT how he got burned:

"After my brother burned me...i got ointments,my brother too.4 years later they annointed him with the seven oils and he recited his knightly vows ,and Rhaegar Targaryen tapped him on the shoulder and said "Arise, ser Gregor."

I swear after rereading and discovering that it was Rhaegar in person that annointed him...Gregor truly is a beast in human form..to rape and kill the family of the one that knighted you..

[aDanceWithFlagons]

I just reeead the prologue to aFfC and saw this by Pate speaking of himself...

"He would have stood a better chance of hatching a real dragon than saving up enough coin to make a golden one."

Of course the Faceless Man is now Pate and searching about the Citadel with a key to unlock everthing. Maybe knowledge, maybe something more.

[LongRider]

thats really interesting, could you provide the exact quote.

Do you mean this one, TWE?

"I told Petyr our suspicions about Jon Arryn's death," Catylyn said. "He has promised to help you find the truth."

That was not news that Eddard Stark welcomed.....It would not be the first time Ned had been forced to make common cause with a man he despised.

GOT, Eddard Stark IV

[Ürglõvi]

Was leafing through Clash and stumbled upon this:

Stannis (Speaking of the Lannisters):

If you step in a nest of snakes, does it matter which one bites you first?

and was instantly reminded of this:

Dany (Speaking of the Lannisters and the Starks):

If a child is set upon by a pack of hounds, does it matter which one tears out his throat?

Dany and Stannis stans out there, what say you? :D (Excuse me while I go and buy popcorn.)

[cocoalover1956]

Oh that's horrible, but yes it kind of gives us a hint of what might happen. :frown5:

That can be interpreted a number of ways. One theory I've seen is that it means she'll never let go of quest for revenge. My personal belief is that no matter what the Faceless Men do to her she'll never stop being Arya Stark (in the books themselves, Needle is deeply symbolic of her identity as Arya and the quote mentions winter, the time for wolves). It sounds like it foreshadows her death, but you can spin into something positive.

[Archmaester_Aemma]

In combination with this though...

You have a wildness in you, child. The ‘Wolf Blood', my father used to call it. Lyanna had a touch of it, and my brother Brandon more than a touch. It brought them both to an early grave.

(Apologies if this was already mentioned)

[Lesk]

Just started first re-read. GoT Bran I, when Ned, Robb and company find the dead direwolf.

"His father knelt and groped under the beasts head with his hand. He gave it a yank and held it up for all to see. A foot of shattered antler, tines snapped off, all wet with blood. A sudden silence descended over the party."

Massive foreshadowing? Stags killing wolves is fairly obvious as Joffrey is a Baratheon after all. Must have been discussed previously?

[Jude Reed]

Just started first re-read. GoT Bran I, when Ned, Robb and company find the dead direwolf.

"His father knelt and groped under the beasts head with his hand. He gave it a yank and held it up for all to see. A foot of shattered antler, tines snapped off, all wet with blood. A sudden silence descended over the party."

Massive foreshadowing? Stags killing wolves is fairly obvious as Joffrey is a Baratheon after all. Must have been discussed previously?

As I recall that was even discussed in the book, Catelyn mentions that even if Ned didn't, she still believed in the signs the gods sent and that the antler in the dire wolf was a portend.

Gah, or was that the show?

I recently lent out my GoT book so I can't check, but I swear that was in there.

[Danelle]

As I recall that was even discussed in the book, Catelyn mentions that even if Ned didn't, she still believed in the signs the gods sent and that the antler in the dire wolf was a portend.

Gah, or was that the show?

I recently lent out my GoT book so I can't check, but I swear that was in there.

In the books Cat thinks of the symbolism

But she had heard the talk in the yards; a direwolf dead in the snow, a broken antler in its throat. Dread coiled within her like a snake, but she forced herself to smile at this man she loved, this man who put no faith in signs. "I knew that would please you," she said. "We should send word to your brother on the Wall."

But she doesn't argue with Ned. I think that it was a subtle hint to the fact that Robert was no longer the same and that Ned becoming Hand would be the beginning of a chain of devastating events

[sanzor]

Re-read project- got to AFFC in Arya's arriving chapter in Braavos.

The temple doors of the many faced god are made of white bark !(or weirwood i dont remember but it is one of these 2-perhaps the first).Interesting to find White (Weirwood) bark here...

[JimZipCode]

I created a thread on this, so this post is a dupe. But that maybe belonged here, since it was a line that caught my eye on the re-read:

I just caught the Heinlein reference that begins Tyrion X (chapter 47) of Dance With Dragons. In the hardcover this is page 618. The chapter begins:

"Lot ninety-seven." The auctioneer snapped his whip. "A pair of dwarfs, well trained for your amusement."

This is a shout-out to a famous line to begin one of Heinlein's juvenile novels. Citizen of the Galaxy has this opening line:

"Lot ninety-seven," the auctioneer announced. "A boy."

Clearly intentional, GRRM was one of the all-time F/SF fanboys in his youth. That line was famous in sf criticism of the 60s. Probably the most famous slave auction in sf history. :-) I'm ashamed the line didn't jump out at me on my first read.

[The 999th Sword of Braavos]

I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.

-aSoS, Chapter 43

This is clearly talking about Sansa. Although I'm not sure if the savage giant refers to Sweetrobins doll (something that already happened) or perhaps Sweetrobin himself (hasn't happened).

Given that the prophecy involves the slaying occurs in a castle of snow I would guess the former, but perhaps Sansa and robin do make that trip to winter fell...

[The 999th Sword of Braavos]

Lol, very true!

Anyway, there's a line in ADWD that may hint at Lady Dustin's true feelings about the Starks. As she and Theon are walking past the former KitN and Lords of Winterfell in the crypts she says:

“So many,” Lady Dustin [said]. “Do you know their names?” “Once … but that was a long time ago.” Theon pointed. “The ones on this side were Kings in the North. Torrhen was the last.” “The King Who Knelt.” “Aye, my lady. After him they were only lords.” “Until the Young Wolf".

Dustin speaks contemptuously about several people (Roose, the Freys, the 'Grey Rats') yet she doesn't unleash this same tone when she talks about the Starks. Here she points that Robb was a King and not just Lord of Winterfell. Why make this distinction?

Dustin's anger is directly pointed at the Starks because of the failed Brandon marriage and her hatred of Eddard. I would say that her anger towards the Starks outweighs her other feelings about the northern lords, but as she believes them to be dead I guess she gives them a certain respect? Just spitballin here

[The 999th Sword of Braavos]

When Jon says goodbye to Robb at Winterfell, Robb has snowflakes melting in his hair. "He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair"

Jon saying goodbye to Sam, when he leaves for Oldtown -

"the cold trickles on his face reminded Jon of the day he'd bid farewell to Robb at Winterfell, never knowing that it was for the last time. "And pull your hood up. The snowflakes are melting in your hair"

Wow thanks for pointing that out, it always rubbed me wrong that GRRM ended the chapter like that. It seemed like such a random line, I always thought that there had to be something bigger.

What are you thinking, Sam suffers a fate similar to Robb? Perhaps getting entwined in the maester/marwyn/jaqen plot going down at the citadel? After you pointing that out I would think that Sam does die because I don't see how he can complete his chain and training in the timeframe of the books, his path has to be something different than just being a maester for the NW

[kaanchanoone]

Wow thanks for pointing that out, it always rubbed me wrong that GRRM ended the chapter like that. It seemed like such a random line, I always thought that there had to be something bigger.

What are you thinking, Sam suffers a fate similar to Robb? Perhaps getting entwined in the maester/marwyn/jaqen plot going down at the citadel? After you pointing that out I would think that Sam does die because I don't see how he can complete his chain and training in the timeframe of the books, his path has to be something different than just being a maester for the NW

Ya I don't see Sam completing his Maester training either. And I agree...he definitely has a bigger role to play.

But the way i read that line is that Jon and Sam will never meet again...rather than either of them necessarily dying. Just that their goodbye is as final as Robb and Jon's came to be. [emoji22]

[WalkerDragon]

Sansa in AGOT talking about Janos Slynt after he held he father down to be executed. This may elude to Jon being Sansa's hero

"... Wishing she could hurt him, wishing that some hero would throw him down and cut of his head." page 795

[Jeff Godley]

Re-reading AGoT, and just came across this: in the Ned chapter describing the end of the Hand's Tourney, Littlefinger and Renly place a bet on the joust between The Hound and The Kingslayer. After the Hound unseats Jamie, Renly collects the bet and then says (within earshot of Ned):

"A pity the Imp is not here with us....I should have won twice as much"

...oops! If Ned had only been paying attention to this offhand comment, he may have realized that Littlefinger had lied about losing his dagger to Tyrion. Renly, who lives at court and attends all such events, knows full well that Tyrion would never bet against Jaime.

Well played, GRRM, well played....

[Arya Baggins]

First re-read! I'm writing down all the interesting lines and possible foreshadowing I can find. I'm halfway through aGoT.

[page numbers are from the small paperback editions]

Page 17

"She can't hurt you," [Robb] said. "She's dead, Jory."

They were talking about the dead direwolf. Made me think of Lady Stoneheart, who can hurt people even though she's dead. You know nothing, Robb.

Also from page 17

The direwolf is described as "Half-buried in bloodstained snow."

I always assumed that the dead direwolf was Ned and the pups the Stark children, so maybe half-buried is because his bones aren't in Lannister hands anymore, but still not buried in the crypts of Winterfell? And bloodstained snow stands for the ruin that is Winterfell. Maybe I'm looking too much into this.

And if my assumption about pups representing the Stark children is true, then this part from page 19 is also remarkable:

"No matter," said Hullen. "They [the pups] be dead soon enough too." Bran gave a wordless cry of dismay.

Page 351, Ned to Robert "You are talking of murdering a child." With child he meant Daenerys. Funny how Dany (to be precise, Drogon) is the cause of a child's (Hazzea's) death in ADWD. I didn't see this parallel on my first read.

Also page 351

"I am not so blind that I cannot see the shadow of the axe when it is hanging over my own neck." - Robert Baratheon

Hehe. You were wrong, Robert.

Page 354

"When you find yourself in bed with an ugly woman, the best thing to do is close your eyes and get on with it," said Littlefinger. "Kiss her and be done with it."
"Kiss her?" Ser Barristan repeated, aghast.
"A steel kiss," said Littlefinger.

A steel kiss = death, so he's basically describing what he eventually did to Lysa Arryn/Tully.