ASOIAF's Prologues and Epilogues: On Merret and Literary Merit

[Khal Pono]

Yes, that is the title of my doctoral dissertation.

Seriously, though, I've been wanting to make this point for a long time.

The books' prologues (and the book 3 epilogue), which all feature a doomed, usually unimportant or unimpressive character, are of exceptional literary quality. At its essence, each prologue is a brilliant, pessimistic short story (and could stand alone as such) about a person struggling vainly against a bleak and hostile universe. These chapters are rich in pathos and dark comedy.

Whether GRRM is taking us inside the mind of a character as repulsive as Chett and making him sympathetic, describing Merret Frey's cursed luck and incurable migraines, or Varymyr's abusive childhood, the author is at his best when doing these wildly readable character studies.

The best one is probably the Pate prologue (which resonates strongly with me since I was an abject failure and college dropout the first time around!). I didn't always feel that way, however. In fact, I was bored the first time I read it (I was excited to read Book 4 and wanted to immediately hear about my favorite characters, not this Pate fellow and his classmates!); I've read it many times since and am now dazzled by how sad, twisted and quietly scary the whole thing is.

[Leif]

I completely agree. Furthermore, I think the minor characters are a lot more interesting than the major ones, for the most part.

[Littlefingers In The Air]

I thought the opening chapter in ACOK was exceptionally well written.

[Bridgeburners]

I love Maester Cressen's PoV chapter. I like him reflecting on how he practically raised the Baratheons, and him trying to convince Stannis to make peace with Renly (against Melisandre's council). I think it was the most tragic prologue. Like this old man had only Stannis left in his life, and his own "son" was betraying him for some evil witch.

I saw Varamyr's chapter as merely a way to tell us that wargs change skin permanently when they die. I found it hard to sympathize with him, and even harder with Chett. I don't remember Merett's part very well, but I certainly remember sympathizing with him.

[The Drunkard]

That is a great title.

But yeah, I agree completely. GOT had an alright prologue, but the others I always looked forward to reading. What I really enjoy is being able to understand them, if not exactly sympathise with them.

[Khal Pono]

I love Maester Cressen's PoV chapter. I like him reflecting on how he practically raised the Baratheons, and him trying to convince Stannis to make peace with Renly (against Melisandre's council). I think it was the most tragic prologue. Like this old man had only Stannis left in his life, and his own "son" was betraying him for some evil witch.

I saw Varamyr's chapter as merely a way to tell us that wargs change skin permanently when they die. I found it hard to sympathize with him, and even harder with Chett. I don't remember Merett's part very well, but I certainly remember sympathizing with him.

Varamyr's chapter is interesting because it talks about a weak, rejected and unremarkable person who discovered he had a spectacular gift which took him far in life; he counseled kings and commanded monsters. By the time we see him in the prologue to book 5, things have come full circle and he is once again weak, helpless, unremarkable. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

Chett is a miserable fuck, but he's had a truly miserable life and the only opportunity for advancement he ever seized was taken away from him by Jon Snow's scheming.. The story of his courtship, rejection by and subsequent murder of some local gal is at once pathetic, hilarious and absolutely horrifying.

[SeanF]

I enjoyed them all. It's a toss-up whether Merrett's or Kevan's was best.

[Queen of Whores]

I found Cressen's chapter the best written and most tragic of the whole series, and not just prologues and epilogues.

[Don Roberto]

Completely agreed. I also enjoyed Pate's the most, Merrett coming at a close second.

Whenever I would start a new Song of Ice and Fire book, I would immediately look forward to the Prologue more so than anything else (and was quite pleased to see that Dance also had an Epilogue).

They are like short stories, inside a familiar world but detached from the overall plot (with the exception of Kevan's).

[BreastplateWithNipples]

Most are great, but the Kevan epilogue was no literary masterpiece by any stretch of imagination. Walks into room, gets shot, then suffers ten minutes of smug villain-tropey exposition from Varys?? WTF??? It was nice to get into Kevan's head (if only for one chapter) and to be told explicitly what Varys was up to the whole time. But the way it was delivered was rather crude and artless.

[WinterKing]

Agreed.I specially like the Merrett's chapter.

[therealbando]

I completely agree. I especially liked Merrett and Cressen, but the others were very good as well.

[Fat Mac]

I agree, like everyone else it seems. Kevan, Merrett and Cressen were especially interesting. I actually felt sorry for Merrett when he was hanged.

[yolkboy]

I liked Kevan's, especially for the parallel to Jon's stabbing. I kind of liked Varamyr's, apart from he gets *ahem* sexed by a wolf.

[SeanF]

I agree, like everyone else it seems. Kevan, Merrett and Cressen were especially interesting. I actually felt sorry for Merrett when he was hanged.

I feel a bit sorry for him now (he was weak and pathetic, rather than evil). When I read it for the first time, I just thought "Yes!".

[Valyrian Steel Link]

(I was excited to read Book 4 and wanted to immediately hear about my favorite characters...)

LOL, you must have been massively disappointed at first.

I do love the Prologues. It's neat to see how some of these small events set the stage for much bigger events later on.

[DogLover]

Completely agree, OP. On my first read of the series, other than AGoT, I quickly skimmed the prologues because I was too excited to find out what was going on with my favorite characters, but when I read them more closely upon rereads I was like "holy crap, this is awesome!"

[The Mountain That Posts]

I read an interview once with GRRM where he was talking about the ORIGINAL prologue for A Clash of Kings was like 66 pages long or something crazy like that, so he had to cut out like 2/3rd's of the content.

And people complain about THAT prologue dragging on and on as it is. >.>

But yes, I love nearly all the prologues/epilogues. I just wish Kevan had been a regular POV character for many chapters, not just the one.

[River]

Doesn't Sam meet someone called Pate in Oldtown? Could it be the same person?

[Khal Pono]

Most are great, but the Kevan epilogue was no literary masterpiece by any stretch of imagination. Walks into room, gets shot, then suffers ten minutes of smug villain-tropey exposition from Varys?? WTF??? It was nice to get into Kevan's head (if only for one chapter) and to be told explicitly what Varys was up to the whole time. But the way it was delivered was rather crude and artless.

You will notice I was careful to say "The books' prologues (and the book 3 epilogue)". The DWD epilogue is interesting--I especially like the creepy entrance of Varys's oft-mentioned little birds in the flesh, but I don't think it's on the same level as the others I mentioned.

LOL, you must have been massively disappointed at first.

I tried to have patience and an open mind for the first few chapters of Book 4, but part of me wanted to scream WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE PEOPLE? And joyless Aeron Greyjoy, especially, was the last person I wanted to hang out with after the end of Book 3. But now I love the Dorne and Iron Islands chapters as much as anything. But that's for a different discussion.