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Mirror and Foil characters


King Adrian Storm

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I see Dany and Cersei as mirrors. Both have prophecies from a witch, both have a desire for the Iron Throne, both get sidelined by men, both will do anything to climb up the levers of power (Dany just felt guilt about it in Books 1-3). The scene where Cersei burns the Tower of the Hand is very similar to the scene where Dany hatches dragons in terms of their response to fire (pyromania). I really think these two will come head-to-head. 

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Kevan Lannister and Brynden "Blackfish" Tully. Both are second sons, veterans of the War of the Ninepenny Kings, and younger brothers to an ambitious, ruthless Lords Paramount. However, Kevan mostly deferred to Tywin while the Blackfish was known for his quarrels with his brother Hoster; Kevan is happily married while Brynden famously refused all attempts to make a match for him, and Hoster's kids often went to talk to Brynden whenever they had problems while Kevan was mostly seen as a yes-man for Tywin (and in Cersei's case a nuisance in later years).

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Arya Stark and Ramsay Bolton mirror each other.  They both have quite a lot in common besides skin peeling.  Both are possible sociopaths.  

Arya Stark and Ramsay Bolton may foil one another.  One could spoil it for the other.  Arya's arrival in the north could spoil it for Ramsay.  Ramsay can also spoil an Arya-Nymberia reunion if he and his hunters find the pack first and kills Nym.

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Sansa and Arya are foils to each other, as different as sun and moon. Every now and then I change my mind as to which is which.

Tyrion sees Shae and Sansa as foils: 'Joy and grief, he thought when he beheld them there together. Laughter and tears.'

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Big Walder Frey and Sansa Stark are both living with really bad people right now.  BWF is a smart lad.  Sansa is not all that smart.  But she may yet pick up a trick or two from Petyr Baelish.  I really like Big Walder.  I hope to see him develop into a major player and foil Arya's plans to kill his Lord Walder.  

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Stannis and Rhaenyra (though Stannis wouldn’t appreciate the comparison). Both are the true heirs to a fat king, who were usurped by a “son” of that king who was backed by a powerful family (Joffrey and the Lannisters, Aegon II and the Hightowers) which included their mother. Both were known for their harshness towards enemies and tried to take King’s Landing in an invasion; Rhaenyra took King’s Landing, Stannis did not.

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Stannis and Tyrion. Despite Tyrion being a hedonist who has a way with words and beds many women while Stannis is known for being a killjoy (while possessing his own deadpan sense of humor) who is uncomfortable with sex, they have a lot of similarities. Both are second sons of fathers who fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, who don't have great relationships with their families (though Tyrion was close with Jaime for much of his life). Both are considered evil uncles to Joffrey while it's really the other way round because Stannis is rebelling because he knows that Joffrey really isn't his nephew while Tyrion was framed for Joffrey's death. Both went unappreciated for their parts in war; Stannis for holding the line at Storm's End and Robert giving the credit to Ned for breaking the Siege while Tyrion did the same for the Battle of the Blackwater because Cersei took all the credit. Both have their own respect for the smallfolk; Tyrion, as a dwarf, holds sympathy for those in lower positions while Stannis shows them respect because he's obsessed with giving everyone their due. And both were characters based on Richard III of England; Stannis is the more historical interpretation as Robert is based off of Richard's brother Edward IV while Tyrion has much of the Shakespeare Richard's personality, rhetoric, angsting about his disability, and having a play about how "evil" they are.

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On 7/19/2020 at 2:53 PM, Prince Rhaego's Soul said:

Arya Stark and Ramsay Bolton mirror each other.  They both have quite a lot in common besides skin peeling.  Both are possible sociopaths.  

Arya Stark and Ramsay Bolton may foil one another.  One could spoil it for the other.  Arya's arrival in the north could spoil it for Ramsay.  Ramsay can also spoil an Arya-Nymberia reunion if he and his hunters find the pack first and kills Nym.

I agree.  

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Tyrion Lannister and Ramsay Bolton. Both are ugly-looking men that are looked down on for various reasons; Tyrion is a dwarf, Ramsay is a bastard (all dwarves are bastards in their fathers' eyes). However, their fathers, who are cold and ruthless lords, are forced to rely on them as their heirs because of lack of options; Jaime is a Kingsguard and Domeric is dead. Both are entrusted with keeping a place under control (King's Landing and the Dreadfort) and are chastised by their fathers for failing for being contrary to their instructions; Tyrion took Shae with him and merely held the line while Ramsay took the Hornwood by force (it's unclear if Roose ordered him) and tortured Theon into a shell. Both were also married a "Stark"; Tyrion married Sansa while Ramsay married "Arya", but while Tyrion mostly refuses to touch Sansa because of her age, Ramsay has no qualms about raping an 11-year-old (Arya is 11 by this point though Jeyne Poole is 13). Everyone acts like Tyrion is a monster and he looks like a monster (and he does look strange even before his injury), while Ramsay is a monster inside and out.

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Tyrion and The Hound:

Tyrion is a small, weak man, The Hound is a large, strong man. Tyrion fits best as a politician (with some fighting ability) while The Hound is a fighter first and foremost (though he's not stupid). Both suffered horrific injuries to their faces; Tyrion lost most of his nose while The Hound had his face practically melted. Both are younger brothers, had a sister, and regarded each in reverse: Tyrion dislikes his sister and loves his brother while The Hound hates his brother and loved his sister. Both had abusive parents: Tyrion's father belittles him at every opportunity, subjected Tyrion's wife to gang-rape, etc., while The Hound's father covered up his horrific injuries at his brother's hands. Similarities: both have a biting wit and have a desire for/and to protect Sansa Stark since Tyrion stops her beatings while The Hound refuses to beat her.

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@Megorova

Brienne and Pretty Meris/Meris Cafferen/ Wenda the White fawn. 

Both are Dunk's descendants. 

Both are dragonseeds. 

Both are ugly

Both have sarcastic monikers. Brienne the Beauty. Pretty Meris 

Brienne could have been raped by the Brave companions. Meris was raped by the Golden company and mutilated. 

They are mother and daughter. 

They are huge and fighters. 

They are scorned, mocked and ridiculed. 

But one is a true lady knight, chivalrous and honorable. Other is cruel, sadistic and hurt within.

It goes on if you connect all the small dots too. 

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Egg was shaped by his experiences living among the smallfolk. fAegon is an attempt to recreate this, but his experiences are artificial. I think they're more indirect foils, though, as they're primarily mirrors/foils for other characters, like Daenerys and Jon.

Arianne and Cersei share quite a few similarities. Both are ambitious, shallow, and impulsive (but also gutsy). Most strikingly, both resent their fathers (seemingly) favoring their brothers and and use sex to manipulate people. Unlike Cersei, though, Arianne is not vain, nor is she without compassion or remorse. So are they supposed to be mirrors or foils to each other? Or is there no intentional connection between the characters at all?

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Daemon Targaryen & Aemond Targaryen

Euron Greyjoy & Stannis:Euron is a evil Stannis.

Roose Bolton & Ned Stark

Victarion Greyjoy & Robert Baratheon

Renly & Balon Greyjoy

Jamie Lannister & Aemon The Dragonknight

Euron Greyjoy & Daemon Targaryen

 

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Margaery and Arya. Both have had their looks compared to Lyanna Stark (though the person comparing Margaery and Lyanna is an unreliable narrator). Sansa wishes she had a sister like Margaery, except that some of the things that Margaery does are present in Arya: likes riding horses, befriends smallfolk, and has little care for getting their clothes dirty. Both also incur Cersei Lannister's wrath.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Arya and Lysa. Both are the younger daughters of Lords Paramount who grew up in the shadow of a more popular, ladylike sister and greatly resented them. Their fathers however treated them quite differently; though Ned allowed Arya to train in sword fighting, Hoster forced Lysa to abort her child and this caused a myriad of problems. Arya embarks on a revenge campaign on her family’s behalf, while Lysa destroys her family by killing her husband and manipulating her sister into causing a devastating civil war which results in her sister’s death and her house’s disgrace.

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Kevan Lannister and Garlan Tyrell. Both are second sons of a fat Lord Paramount and Warden who was politically inept, whose eldest brother was more politically astute (Tywin and Willas are also foils, more on that later). Each had a younger brother who tried to make their own way (Tygett for Kevan, Loras for Garlan) through martial ability and a sister who is just as politically minded as her brothers (Genna for Kevan, Margaery for Garlan). Both also had an acid-tongued grandmother (though it's unlikely, no impossible that Kevan met Rohanne Webber) and had a lot more respect for Tyrion Lannister than most people.

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Brienne and Sansa - both offer moral clarity on what a knight should be. Both would agree "It's always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining." Both romanticize kings/princes (...sorry but Renly was saving Brienne's cloak for Barristan). Both memorize all the singer's songs by heart and have a sweet innocence about them. Brienne gets her dream ripped away from her just like Sansa and both starts to ruminate in darker thoughts. "There are walls around this one higher than Winterfell's" / "he met a wall of sullen courtesy as icy and unyielding as the Wall he had walked once in the north" Cat's thoughts about Brienne being ostracized and keeping her distance apply to Sansa in King's Landing after she's marked as a traitor and married to Tyrion. 

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