[TWOW Spoilers] NEW Chapter Discussion - "Mercy"

[juanml82]

They won't really start looking for Raff until the morning. By then, Mercy will have disappeared. Arya will be back in the House of Black and White apologizing to the Kindly Man for taking a life of her own volition and not because someone asked for the gift.

Bad idea. She broke the rules. Me think its best if she had mastered the lying game and, if asked, lies.

Can the guards even see the play or are they guarding the box looking away from the stage?

Either way the other guard might suspect that Raff is still back stage waiting for her scene to end. He can't get too worried until the play is over, which gives her plenty of time to disappear

but yeah this is way more sloppy than her other kill. I suppose getting to cross someone off her list was just too tempting for her not to do.

That is true and I'm really just playing devils advocate here, because this whole chapter is about Arya, so I highly doubt that we're gonna hear some huge investigation is going on, BUT if a wrench is going to be thrown into Arya's training, it will be because that extra guard will be like "Where they fuck is Raff? He was only supposed to be gone 5 minutes and it's been 20. And oh look, that little girl he went with is back, so where the hell is he?"

No. Stop that.

More like "No, Mercy didnt do anything! She played her part in the Bloody Hand like a good girl and even helped Bobono with his floppy cock. That guard, she was seen with a guard? He probably killed poor little Mercy! She didnt come back after the play. He must have done it! Look at all this blood. He threw her body in the canals, the dastard!"

Where is he? Well theres the spanner, but i dont think its going to get back on Izembaro and thats what she was worried about.

The issue here is whether the guard is watching the play or not. I tend to think he's not, he's giving the back to the stage watching that none tries to enter Swift's box.

However, questions will be asked. And if they ask enough, the guard's description will match Mercy. And if someone investigates enough, that person will realize Mercy returned to the play after going with Raff. Even more, Izembaro didn't send his mummers to sleep with the Westerosi.

I think Arya had a mission for that day. She doesn't have to hide the murder from the Braavosi authorities. She has to hide it from the FM. And unless she ties up the loose ends by also killing the guard before going to the play or she can justify the killing as means to her mission, she can get in trouble.

I do think as long as Nymeria is still out there she has that hope of returning to some semblance of who she was. Nymeria represents that hope. But I never forget that George wants me to have that hope, and he's a bastard.

LOL, well said

[horizon]

It is where whores go isn't it?

Dropping of Tysha personally?

[laguna80]

Yeah, it's pretty meta. And I would also read the screenplay for "The Bloody Hand." Demonic boar fight? Sold!

I can't help but suspect that this chapter would have been almost exactly the same if the five-year time jump had been preserved, with the only difference being that 15/16-year-old Arya would actually have had sex with Raff before killing him.

She'd probably kill him when he climaxed, similar to the assassin in Angels and Demons. I think that's what O-ren Ishii did in Kill Bill too.

[Frances Bean Corbray]

Beyond that, I'd easily pay $5 a chapter if it meant I could finish the series this week, one "but it now" button at a time.

I'm often glad GRRM is not as ruthless and cynical a businessman as he could be. Because yeah he could totally do that (or even just squeeze out a serialized story, 100 page "books" with all cliffhangers and continuations and no resolutions, like a soap opera) and I'd totally just give the dude my wallet anyway. But he takes his time (lots of time) and puts out a long book that is mostly its own story (dual battle cliffhangers in ADWD notwithstanding).

Well, if George "dared" to go there with Arya who is a child, I don't doubt now he might do the same with Sansa, who is legally a woman in Westeros now. Kinda disturbing, actually, but... his universe, his rules

With Dany and the "no" chapter way back in AGOT, you could easily argue he's been there from the start.

[Florina Laufeyson]

Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

And yes it certainly is in the same vein.

Whatever I end up deciding I feel about the rest of this chapter, this moment is already up there with "Edd Fetch Me A Block" for me. And even though I'll know it's coming, I'll relish this passage all the same when TWOW comes out and I read it all over again.

Mmhmm! Roll in it, mate! ROLL IN IT!

I wanna roll in it!

So Tyrion, who some folks on this very forum have thought draws influence from Richard III as Shakespeare depicted him (at least, in how others see him as "the monster"), is now depicted in a very Shakespeare's Richard III-ish manner in a play within a play (one of Shakespeare's pet devices).

Just sayin if GRRM ever wants to release the screenplay for "The Bloody Hand" as supplemental material, I'd probably buy it. :D

Id buy it. I really wanna know just how that play goes.

[Lady Meera Reed]

Is there a purpose as to why some sentences in this chapter are underlined? Am I the only one bothered by that?

[laguna80]

With Dany and the "no" chapter way back in AGOT, you could easily argue he's been there from the start.

That's a good point, with the only exceptions being that Dany was 13 and most likely "flowered" by then.

[laguna80]

Is there a purpose as to why some sentences in this chapter are underlined? Am I the only one bothered by that?

I think people said earlier those would be italics in the books.

[Slayer of Lies]

I think I would too. I'm actually glad I got into this series late instead of when it JUST came out back in the 90's.

Lucky you! I ordered ASOS in hardback in 2000 from the UK to get it a couple months early (in the US)... and then proceeded to wait 11 years for ADWD.

This chapter (and all the other spoilers) have been a breath of fresh air for me!

[Frances Bean Corbray]

Is there a purpose as to why some sentences in this chapter are underlined? Am I the only one bothered by that?

Given the pattern of GRRM's writing over the series, I imagine those denote lines that will be italicized in the final print version.

Took a second to get used to but did not bother me (of course, my bother-o-meter was otherwise occupied)

[Lady Meera Reed]

I think people said earlier those would be italics in the books.

I see .. Thanks! I'm still trying to catch up with the thread. :D

Given the pattern of GRRM's writing over the series, I imagine those denote lines that will be italicized in the final print version.

Took a second to get used to but did not bother me (of course, my bother-o-meter was otherwise occupied)

lol I am so OC when it comes to these things. :blushing:

[The Abominable SnowOther]

Cersei shoots, she scores...

:commie: :box: :commie: CERSEI for the Comeback :commie: :box: :commie:

Im taking this as fact FTW

Phario Forel= one giant troll kick to our faces, i love it!

[Lors]

Well I still think that biologically at least there´s no such thing as a sexual maturity she is still a girl, psychologically though... lots of maturity and growing up , but not canalized in the right direction... she still cant forget about herself and her life...

[Dr. Pepper]

Bad idea. She broke the rules. Me think its best if she had mastered the lying game and, if asked, lies.

It's hard to determine since the last time she broke the rules, she was rewarded with an advancement in training.

[WiDMNDBAMMD]

I just realized. She keeps trying to get him to say her name, "Mercy". If she had succeeded, couldn't that be taken as a prayer for a gift of mercy? And wouldn't that make him a legitimate target, giving her an excuse for the Kindly Man? "But sir, I DID act in accordance with the wishes of He of Many Faces. I was answering a prayer for His Gift."

She's not a priest that can "hear" the voice of MFG?

Why does she have to "claim" this kill? Didn't she learn her lesson last time?

If we can take her "raped AND killed tonight" to mean that she's going to lose her identity as Mercy tonight no matter what she does then I don't think it matters that she killed Raff as far as the FM go.

It is funny that she seems not at all concerned with the consequences of the KM. She mentions the problems it might cause the Sea Lord and the envoy from Braavos but nothing about the house of Black and White.

She mentions "missing" some of the people from her mummer ship but not missing KM or the waif. I think her and the waif grew to be "kinda close" as close as you can get to a friend in that place.

It seemed like Arya grew up really fast in this chapter because her sexuality was really focused on and she used that for a kill and I don't think she's ever done that before.

Arya was mature in this chapter more than any of her other ones.

And I'm glad somebody voiced how the sexual attraction to children was disgusting

I tend to agree with the other people's speculation that the face that she is wearing does change her personality some. That or she changes her personality to fit the face. Her laughing, giggling and making jokes with her friend Daena, that is Mercy, not Arya.

the best is the line: Fuss and feathers, Mercy thought, they only know the Common Tongue.

Mercy calls her wolf dream a "nightmare" when Arya always considered them "good dreams"

yeah kinda maybe she grew up fast and started learning that sometimes a girl has to use seduction? but then again Arya isn't growing up fast enough for her taste. She wants bigger boobs to seduce people with, she only cares about her looks as far as luring Raff back to her room.

Excellent chapter, Arya has got very good at the whole pretending to be no one thing.

Most people think Mercy was playing a version of Sansa, but isn't it more likely she was playing Tysha?

More likely she's not playing a Tysha, Sansa or Shae just a maiden who Tyrion rapes against her will who claims she's a maiden. The Tysha story was kept hush hush so I doubt that a Braavosi playright would hear about it. Plus it's not going to accurately tell the events of what happened...

Seems like his "new play" is about the stories of Tyrion the Demon Monkey that stole the throne from his nephew, had Robert murdered and blamed the gods for cursing him. Then killed his father etc. etc. etc.

This to me doesn't seem like a comedy, but then again, Romeo and Juliet was a comedy too.

Why do people think Bran was seeing Nymeria? I interpreted it as Nymeria passing a weirwood with a carved face, as if she's somewhere in the North

I also liked the catch about the dwarf. In aFfC Cersei hears rumors about Tyrion being a mummer in Essos and I thought, "so that's who they meant"

What's the deal with the key? Could it be related to the key Jaqen stole from Pate?

".. A tree that watched her as she ran" not trees but a tree. It's the same kinda situation as when we see Bran successfully talk to Ghost as Jon Snow is having a dream.

We start the chapter with her waking up so she's trying to recall what her dream had been about the night before, but like most dreams they're hard to recall sometimes.

The key that Jaqen/Alchemist received from Pate in exchange for a gold dragon( Pate stole the key, not Jaqen) opened any door in the Citadel. Every Arch Maester had one, Pate knew where his Arch Maester kept his which allowed the lack wit to steal it. Best of all the Arch Maester he stole it from never used it or always asked Pate to get it for him.

I think it's important to note with all this discussion of Arya's sexual maturation, that it has been established in AFFC that when you take on someone else's face you also take on certain aspects of their personality and memories... Perhaps this seemingly rapid growth in her sexual maturity has more to do with 'Mercy's' personality and experiences seeping through?

Or maybe I'm just in denial and want Arya to remain the young Wolfgirl we all know and love!!

While Arya gets to use Mercy's face she still has her own body. Which while she is unquestionably strong ( able to move most dead bodies on her own in the House of Black and White) she hasn't completely "matured" yet. I'd say she's came along way since her "inn with girls" definition of a brothel.

Arya has seen girls being "used" in Harrenhall for any soldiers whenever they want. She saw what Pia was doing with all the soldiers when she sold oysters, cackels and clams the other girl was sleeping with a boy. She's also been "hit on" before, like at the Tasty Peach or whatever by the old man where Gendry stepped in and told the guy to step off or Rorge threating to rape her with her bloody corpse.

Braavos is a "dangerous" city for her to be killed or raped or worse when she was the blind little girl and that's why she carries her finger knifes, well now she carries one.

I find it funny that though Arya and Sansa are no where near eachother both are on similiar missions. Sansa needs to "charm" Harry the Heir? Arya had to "charm" Raff the Sweetling?

[oprahnoodlemantra]

Based on this part:

This would make trouble for the Sealord and the envoy with the chicken on his chest, she did not doubt.
She would think about that later, though. Just now, there was no time.

I don't think Arya's mission was to kill anyone. I think her mission was to learn some mummer techniques and to 'make trouble for the Sealord and the envoy'. If that's the case, I think this chapter should have been in ADWD.

[aryagonnakill#2]

Well I still think that biologically at least there´s no such thing as a sexual maturity she is still a girl, psychologically though... lots of maturity and growing up , but not canalized in the right direction... she still cant forget about herself and her life...

I'm sorry but I don't understand, having a period means your body is now producing eggs, how is that not biological maturity?

[kephv]

It's hard to determine since the last time she broke the rules, she was rewarded with an advancement in training.

Yep. If anything, this will only further go to show how useful she will be to them, and any "punishment" she receives is likely to advance her career with them, not hurt it.

[The King of the Night]

could the Lannister bashing play signify a change in regime to Tyrell? Cersei would still be able to hand out a lordship as lady of the rock so that doesnt prove she is still queen.

[Newstar]

Yep. If anything, this will only further go to show how useful she will be to them, and any "punishment" she receives is likely to advance her career with them, not hurt it.

Heh. At this rate, the minute she denounces the FM and everything they stand for, reclaims Needle, and strikes out for Westeros, she'll be offered leadership of the organization. :D