[TWoW SPOILERS] March chapter mercy part ii

[D_Richard]

It sure seems like she's playing Shae to me. Mainly because Sansa is thought to be complicit in Tyrion's alleged crimes. And I think the maidenhead is simply to further vilify Tyrion... make him seem extra evil. But the importance of Forel's play doesn't go beyond that in my opinion, so whether it be Shae or Sansa, it's all the same to me.

But this chapter was great. Loved Arya reminding herself what Mercy knows or doesn't know over and over. And her still warging in her dreams. I haven't a clue what the FM will do once she skulks back to the House, but I sure hope her "fog" doesn't last forever.

[Whitering]

Wait a second-- how would Mercy look suspicious if a former Clegane crony were to wander off (for any reason associated with vice), get connected to little "Mercy" in the extreme event that both his and Mercy's disappearance are suspected of being intertwined, and the only trace of either is a bloody bed? Isn't this basically the premise of Varys' bird empire? That no one ever suspects the kid? I don't see how anyone other than the FM would suspect Arya was behind this, or that Raff was the one murdered. I mean, really, unless you knew she was an assassin, how would this even look questionable?

Well, she is sent there. How? Does Brusco know that the FM sent Arya to him? I mean, we know that he knows she goes off to pray 3 nights out of every month or whatever, but does he know which temple? People know that's where you go to die and to hire the FM so does Izembaro know where she comes from or did she get there and have to worm her way into the group, that seems more likely in this case.

So, I don't know, the FM have literally offered to place her anywhere, marry her to nearly anyone. Maybe Izembaro has a long history with the FM, and he wouldn't say anything then.

All that would be said is that Raff went off with some girl, never came back and some blood, we don't know how much, was found in a room he might have been in. Pretty shaky. Of course, Braavosi were recently looking for a skinny and ugly girl, but was that for slitting a purse or because a man had died? She never went near the guy but the FM were still worried someone would connect her with his death. Maybe in Braavos, little girls are known to be dangerous.

[E-Ro]

Read the chapter, it was pretty good. Most of the stuff you guys are discussing went right over my head.

Whatever.

[Harold II]

I don't think it is Shae or Sansa, it is an amalgamation. The whole play is based on what word has reached Bravos via ship. Right through it the details are wrong, or dramatized.

The only really fleshed out characters would be well known in Bravos - Robert and the boar, King Joffrey, the golden Queen, and the Demon Monkey. Mercy is playing a damsel character which is patched together through partial information. It seems more Sansa to me than anyone else, but it is a generic role in the play plot. I doubt the character even had a name.

[Dr. Pepper]

Also, with it being a relatively recent event in a nation half a world away, being put on by a rag tag group of mummers... I doubt they'd allow a detail like Shae to even be prominent.. The point of the play is to demonize Tyrion. Well, no one knew if Tyrion had or hadn't raped Sansa. But what may have gotten out, was that she had disappeard. With Tyrion being a crafty dude, taking hidden passages and whatnot, why would people not ever assume that he may have murdered her. I'm almost 100% sure that it would have to be Sansa. Especially if Cersei went out of her way to cover up the whole Shae incident.

I'm actually finding the arguments that it's a Shae figure more appealing now that I've had a chance to reflect and consider the points others have made. I don't think it works to argue based on the details of events as we know them as this play isn't invested in creating a sense of accuracy.

On reread, it also appears more that Mercy is describing her own murder - that she will cease to be Mercy after that night - rather than describing her character in the play being murdered.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

I agree that the knife she used is probably not Needle.

My take on the murder and Mercy's disappearance will go something like this. Mercy pointed out the guard to another girl, said he was handsome and wanted to meet him. The other girl pointed out that he was a Westerosi barbarian and to stay away from him and she did not listen. She later talked too him in the presence of another guard, offered herself to him and he abandoned his post to go off with her and that was the last time he was seen, Mercy did her scene after that and thats last anyone saw of her. Raff also mentioned that he was curious about the dwarf and whether he was Tyrion and had talked about catching up with him later and possibly killing him. I don't think Raffs absence will really be questioned til the morning and that the suspicion will actually fall on the dwarf at first. His running off with Mercy will come out, they will check out the room she rented and find blood all over the place and no Mercy. I think the authorities will think that Raff tried to get her to help him kill the dwarf and that she refused or threatened to warn him, Raff killed her and then fled on a ship. This is much more believable than the other way around. Mercy was a sweet girl of good character, a hard worker who made a terrible mistake in falling for this Westerosi savage but she probably died protecting her friend in the end. It seems much more likely to cast the Westerosi envoy and his people in a bad light.

I love that.

[Pod The Impaler]

nice little backstory on the chapter from "Not A Blog"

"I Broke The Internet

Sorry about that.

:lol: This does not surprise me. The internet cannot handle Arya. Valar morghulis - servers included. :owned:

[Van beyond The Wall]

A good read.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

I'm still speechless! I mean Arya....really he published an Arya chapter? I'm still waiting to get slapped hard and waking up from a dream after this "all I ever wanted" chapter! I just never expected an Ayra chapter in my wildest dreams (even after knowing Mercy was the PoV I laughed at myself for even hoping it) Wow! I need to come down first and maybe read it again. I'm really in shock here :eek:

That sounds like I was when I found it yesterday, although I was mighty suspicious that Mercy would be Arya, I just didn't want to hope. I thought Mercy perhaps could relate to Asha, just like that time her chapter was named The Sacrifice.

[Big Daddy]

To me it was Sansa Arya was playing. In the play, Robert and Joffrey are cast. This play is about the reign of Robert through the purple wedding, making it more Sansa-specific. And Shae's involvement isn't all public knowledge, nor was she any kind of maiden.

The chapter itself? SOOOOOO good! I was so happy reading it last night!

[butterbumps!]

Well, she is sent there. How? Does Brusco know that the FM sent Arya to him? I mean, we know that he knows she goes off to pray 3 nights out of every month or whatever, but does he know which temple? People know that's where you go to die and to hire the FM so does Izembaro know where she comes from or did she get there and have to worm her way into the group, that seems more likely in this case.

So, I don't know, the FM have literally offered to place her anywhere, marry her to nearly anyone. Maybe Izembaro has a long history with the FM, and he wouldn't say anything then.

All that would be said is that Raff went off with some girl, never came back and some blood, we don't know how much, was found in a room he might have been in. Pretty shaky. Of course, Braavosi were recently looking for a skinny and ugly girl, but was that for slitting a purse or because a man had died? She never went near the guy but the FM were still worried someone would connect her with his death. Maybe in Braavos, little girls are known to be dangerous.

I could be wrong about this, but I had the impression that the contact person a FM is sent to knows that the person is a FM, but that it would be a massive secret beyond that. Like, if a strange murder happened during that timeframe, they'd "look away" as part of their service. I thought Brusco knew where Arya came from, for example. I'd actually wondered if the these contact people were in debt to the FM in some way-- like, they'd sought FM services, and this is part of their offering. So I assumed it would be people who were connected to the FM in a remote sense, but not part of the organization, both having motive to keep silent about things concerning the FM.

So Izembaro might suspect it was Raff murdered, not Arya, but he might just chalk it up to an actual assignment and not question it or break a code of silence. I could be wrong about how this works, though.

[FC_Lymond]

I think Mercy is playing a Sansa character. It all fits. The lines, etc.

I think Lady Stork is actually a Catelyn Stark character. She could definitely be a part of a play about the evil imp.

[Florina Laufeyson]

The internet cannot handle Arya

That would explain why my friend had trouble getting to the page...

I don't think it is Shae or Sansa, it is an amalgamation. The whole play is based on what word has reached Bravos via ship. Right through it the details are wrong, or dramatized.

The only really fleshed out characters would be well known in Bravos - Robert and the boar, King Joffrey, the golden Queen, and the Demon Monkey. Mercy is playing a damsel character which is patched together through partial information. It seems more Sansa to me than anyone else, but it is a generic role in the play plot. I doubt the character even had a name.

This play had two kings. The fat one and the boy. So yes. The Imp is obvious, the Stranger, Big Brusco is the demonic boar, somebody (the alleged Lady Stork) is the Queen. Mercy is a maiden who gets raped by the Imp. I think it could very well be a composited character with no name. Just to show how evil the Imp was.

I'm actually finding the arguments that it's a Shae figure more appealing now that I've had a chance to reflect and consider the points others have made. I don't think it works to argue based on the details of events as we know them as this play isn't invested in creating a sense of accuracy.

On reread, it also appears more that Mercy is describing her own murder - that she will cease to be Mercy after that night - rather than describing her character in the play being murdered.

Yes.

[Mark Antony]

not a blog

Thanks for posting. I figured it was originally an after the 5 year gap chapter

[Lady Fevre Dream]

Not to mention Robb Stark, a 16 year old warrior king. Isn't it interesting seeing so many people emotionally and angrily imposing modern day standards on a fantasy medieval society?

Btw, this is just a spectacular chapter. I love GRRM messing with our minds as he makes dear little Arya into a ruthless killer - testing our ability to just be all, "Yay Arya!" all the way through the story without stopping to realize what she's actually capable of.

I do have to confess, sometimes the over arguing of the imposition of modern day standards gets old for me. This chapter, I suspect, will set it off on a roll for years to come. SMDH and LOLing all at the same time. That's how I get through it. :thumbsup: ;)

[Whitering]

I could be wrong about this, but I had the impression that the contact person a FM is sent to knows that the person is a FM, but that it would be a massive secret beyond that. Like, if a strange murder happened during that timeframe, they'd "look away" as part of their service. I thought Brusco knew where Arya came from, for example. I'd actually wondered if the these contact people were in debt to the FM in some way-- like, they'd sought FM services, and this is part of their offering. So I assumed it would be people who were connected to the FM in a remote sense, but not part of the organization, both having motive to keep silent about things concerning the FM.

So Izembaro might suspect it was Raff murdered, not Arya, but he might just chalk it up to an actual assignment and not question it or break a code of silence. I could be wrong about how this works, though.

Maybe when this is all over GRRM will explain this somehow. Brusco and his daughters certainly seemed surprised when she popped back up and then she was running a route she almost never ran in her earlier stint, which means Arya probably told him she needed to and he agreed. That leads to the belief that Brusco does know who she works with. But how in the world do you keep it secret that you have any ties to the FM? Gossip is the first order of business in that neck of the woods (meaning the area by the docks). Does he have to keep it secret? They just hang out at a temple in the city and everyone knows where it is and nobody seems to care. It's weird.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

Sansa was 12,5 when she had her period. Not that much younger than 13, I'd say.

Thank you for that, I knew it had to be while she was 12 and that it happened in ACOK. That seems sooooooooooo long ago, even in universe time, I'm thinking it's time for the kids to sit back for a second and have them figure out what age they are. It would certainly be helpful for the rest of us. Last I remember, in AFFC, Sansa was still 13 and making Alayne 14, a bit older.

[Crimson King]

On reread, it also appears more that Mercy is describing her own murder - that she will cease to be Mercy after that night - rather than describing her character in the play being murdered.

That makes sense, but I don't know... the way her longing to kill Raff was described, it just didn't seem like something planified at all. She came to the play, saw a man she desperately wanted to kill, and killed him. And while killing him, she reverted back to Arya mode... it just doesn't seem like it could have been planned ahead of time. And she herself admitted she should have done it differently, which shows she didn't have the time to think it through entirely.

Something else I'm curious about is what will be the repercussions of this. Is she leaving the FM? Entering a new stage of training? This chapter was initially written as the first post-gap Arya chapter, but the fact we now have seen five chapters of training before makes its exact role hard to predict, narratively speaking, although a use it certainly has.

[Pod The Impaler]

Thanks for posting. I figured it was originally an after the 5 year gap chapter

It has that feel. Arya is skilled and confident. It also seems that she's been with the mummers long enough to not feel like a rookie at it.

I kept reading her interactions with Bobono and then Raff and thinking "oh, watch out, girl!", but in hindsight, it seemed like she considered them no problem.

Quite a leap up from the insurance guy.

[Slayer of Lies]

I was just considering the angle of The Bloody Hand loosely representing the first three books of ASOIAF as acts, factoring in that there are only two kings in the play, and assuming that the play was purposefully selected to impress a Westerosi envoy. This, of course, would make Tyrion the bad guy (not much of a stretch considering the rape), the play a Shakespearean tragedy where all the main good guys die (not much of a stretch considering the goal of impressing a Lannister envoy), and there would be no reason to muddy the waters by “reminding” the envoy of Ned, a “traitorous” Stark Lord who would steel Tyrion’s thunder, so he gets thrown out of the script altogether.

Additionally, I would extend that the play is not titled after the Hand that dies, but the Hand that kills, being Tyrion (which would still work whether Ned is in the play or not).

In that light, if we distill the major pertinent acts of the first three books down, we might loosely have something like this:

Act 1 – AGOT: The realm is at peace. Robert (the first king, a good guy) dies by boar, and gives a knockout speech before dying. (Then, even though Ned dies and Arya leaves KL in the books, we don’t have proof or reason to believe necessarily that either of them would be cast in the play.) So Joffrey is crowned king (the boy king, another good guy), yet we learn that the evil uncle has been sent to oversee rule. Suspenseful cliffhanger.

Act 2 – ACOK: Tyrion (“the bloody Hand”) arrives to KL (though not necessarily with “Shae,” and noting that “Sansa” was already there, though not yet married to Tyrion in the books). Tyrion causes havoc (including raping “Mercy”), and we learn that the good Hand Tywin has decided to return to reclaim his position as Hand (ostensibly to recoup the damage done by Tyrion). Optimistic cliffhanger.

Act 3 – ASOS: Tywin starts setting things to rights. As such, Tyrion marries “Mercy”, Joffrey marries Marg, but just as things are starting to turn around, Tyrion kills Joffrey at the wedding, “Mercy” runs away and – finally – since there is no third king (Tommen) in the play, we skip to Tyrion killing Tywin (no Shae, as explained below). Roll credits.

Considerations:

· Although I really like the angle that Phario would write a “Lannister hate play” to avenge the death of Syrio, this would fly in the face of the goal of impressing a Lannister envoy

· Further, a playwright trying to impress a Westerosi envoy would deliberately leave out the part about Tywin bedding a whore, which would surely upset a Lannister envoy

· As a tragedy starring Tyrion as the bad guy, this would seemingly cast Mercy in a more favorable light than simply being Tyrion’s whore, as a “known whore” claiming to be a “maiden” would simply muddy the waters of Tyrion as the bad guy

· On the flipside, if Mercy were to be playing a young Lady Stark too closely to real life, this might also upset an envoy, so why not genericize the role to avoid an undesirable reaction, such as the Lannister envoy possibly cheering on “Sansa’s” rape?

· Even if we did accept Mercy to be playing Sansa considering the obstacles, we’d have to overlook the distinction of her saying “m’lord”

· Contrarily, if we accepted Mercy to be playing Shae, we’d have to overlook the fact that Shae – as a known whore – claimed to be a virgin, which might serve to make her a less sympathetic rape victim

Well, that was fun.

But an yway I try to dissect it, I keep coming back to the play being a distorted, through-the-looking-glass adaptation of “real life,” fueled by a mix of truth, misinformation and creative license. And in this case, as others have pointed out, Mercy might be more widely acceptable as an amalgamation of Shae, Sansa, and possibly Serving Girl Number One …

Because all of the individual angles have holes: Shae is a whore and not a virgin (and as Tyrion’s whore wouldn’t necessarily be raped, or pitied when raped if so), Sansa wouldn’t say “m’lord” and might upset the envoy besides, and an anonymous serving girl simply isn’t very satisfying, when everyone else in the play is a known character.

Therefore, I mostly take that Mercy’s character is “loosely based on Sansa,” because I like the idea that Arya is playing the role of someone who is meant to remind us of Sansa, although the character wouldn’t blatantly be Sansa in order to avoid upsetting the envoy, and wouldn’t blatantly be a whore either, in order to make the rape scene impactful.