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Mirror and Foil characters


King Adrian Storm

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Brienne of Tarth and Dacey Mormont fly under the radar big time. Both are warrior women serving men they love, but where Brienne is constantly mocked and challenged for her desire to fight, Dacey is completely accepted. She fights in Robb’s royal guard, she’s the heir to her mother, she never seems to have much anguish or inner turmoil, she’s completely in her element. And she never feels like she has to prove anything except to Robb through her skills and actions. No wonder Brienne was drawn to serve the North.

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Arya and Daenerys are mirror images

They are each the third child of a great, noble house.  At an early age, they were forced on the run when their houses were destroyed by their enemies.  They avoided discovery for fear of what their enemies might do to them.

They have had many companions.  Among them is a creature of magical origin representing their house sigil with whom they have a telepathic connection.  Another is a fearsome warrior on horseback, whom they initially feared, but came to care for, ,ultimately nursing him as he lay dying from an infected wound.

They are both now in a foreign city, forced to submerge their identities.  But their identities refuse to be submerged. 

Arya has gone from being somewhat important to being no one.  Daenerys has gone from being a nobody to a position of importance.

I'm curious what will happen to them next.

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1 hour ago, Nevets said:

Arya and Daenerys are mirror images

They are each the third child of a great, noble house.  At an early age, they were forced on the run when their houses were destroyed by their enemies.  They avoided discovery for fear of what their enemies might do to them.

They have had many companions.  Among them is a creature of magical origin representing their house sigil with whom they have a telepathic connection.  Another is a fearsome warrior on horseback, whom they initially feared, but came to care for, ,ultimately nursing him as he lay dying from an infected wound.

They are both now in a foreign city, forced to submerge their identities.  But their identities refuse to be submerged. 

Arya has gone from being somewhat important to being no one.  Daenerys has gone from being a nobody to a position of importance.

I'm curious what will happen to them next.

When you think about it like that the similarities start piling up. 

There is the mummers dragon and the mummers wolf to consider as well. fAegon & fArya. Both Arya & Dany have their pretenders. 

Looking closer at fArya, Jeyne Poole wanted what Arya had since book 1: An important highborn status. Arya had that and didn't care which must have rankled Jeyne even more. Now George gives her what she wanted and lets her taste what being Arya Stark means. 

Jeyne is a very obviously an (almost literal mirror to Arya) 

Quote

 “Jeyne is the next thing to a whore, you must go on being Arya.” He meant no hurt to her. It was for her own good, and his. She has to remember her name. ...When the tip of her nose turned black from frostbite, and the one of the riders from the Night’s Watch told her she might lose a piece of it, Jeyne had wept over that as well. “No one will care what Arya looks like, so long as she is heir to Winterfell,” he assured her. “A hundred men will want to marry her. A thousand.” - Theon, TWoW

Next thing to a whore... and it will be interesting when Arya likely trains with a Courtesan.

So Jeyne is literally losing parts of her face, Arya thinks "Even Jeyne Poole was not so blind as to think this man was fair" and Jeyne is trying desperately to hold on to the name Arya Stark for her survival. 

I agree with your earlier point about the likelihood of Jeyne and Arya meeting in Braavos. How will these similarities continue once they meet? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Arya Stark and Myrcella "Baratheon". Myrcella is everything that Arya refused to be as a highborn lady/princess. Aside from being caught up in Arianne's coup, Myrcella was betrothed to a prince she likes, in the least sexist of the Seven Kingdoms, and all by doing what she was told. Arya on the other hand ran away from her heritage and intended path in life, was dismissive of her betrothed, and has been whacked around like a pinball for most of her page time. The way Jon Snow sees them is very different as well; Jon loves Arya as his younger sister while he's dismissive of Myrcella, seeing her as shallow while that's clearly not the case.

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On 7/14/2020 at 10:53 AM, Angel Eyes said:

Ned Stark and Domeric Bolton. Both are Northern noblemen who were fostered in the Vale, whose honorable practices rubbed off on them, and got them killed because they trusted the wrong people.

They got killed because they were not very smart.  Honor didn't kill them.  Their blindness killed them.  Ned failed to see how much of a fool his best friend was.  Domeric's desired a sibling and that made him blind to Ramsay's real character.  

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19 hours ago, Hodor the Articulate said:

Stannis and Ned. Both have a rather rigid sense of justice, but Ned's is tempered by compassion.

Okay, this I can agree with.  It also does not mean their compass is correct about what is justice.  Yes they want to make decisions which they feel is justice but was it really justice for Stannis to barbecue his own men for eating the dead?  I mean, they would not have been in such a desperate condition of starvation if he had not chosen to put them there.  

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35 minutes ago, Prince Rhaego's Soul said:

They got killed because they were not very smart.  Honor didn't kill them.  Their blindness killed them.  Ned failed to see how much of a fool his best friend was.  Domeric's desired a sibling and that made him blind to Ramsay's real character.  

Fair enough.

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Cersei and Lyanna. They're willful ladies with forceful, ambitious fathers who were attached to Robert Baratheon and resented his cheating ways. Cersei is everything that could have gone wrong with Lyanna had she married Robert.

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4 hours ago, Angel Eyes said:

Arya Stark and Myrcella "Baratheon". Myrcella is everything that Arya refused to be as a highborn lady/princess. Aside from being caught up in Arianne's coup, Myrcella was betrothed to a prince she likes, in the least sexist of the Seven Kingdoms, and all by doing what she was told. Arya on the other hand ran away from her heritage and intended path in life, was dismissive of her betrothed, and has been whacked around like a pinball for most of her page time. The way Jon Snow sees them is very different as well; Jon loves Arya as his younger sister while he's dismissive of Myrcella, seeing her as shallow while that's clearly not the case.

I feel like Sansa and Arya are better (and apparently intended) foils. Your assessment of Arya seems a bit harsh. She ran off to escape being made a hostage by Myrcella's family. If she hadn't, she would have been subject to Joffrey's abuse, like Sansa, and probably married off to Ramsay Bolton. She didn't even know she was betrothed to Elmar Frey, whose family subsequently murdered her mother and brother.

Based on Maggy the Frog's prophecy, poor Myrcella may not have much of a future while Arya definitely has a chance to survive to the end of the books.

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12 hours ago, Wall Flower said:

I feel like Sansa and Arya are better (and apparently intended) foils. Your assessment of Arya seems a bit harsh. She ran off to escape being made a hostage by Myrcella's family. If she hadn't, she would have been subject to Joffrey's abuse, like Sansa, and probably married off to Ramsay Bolton. She didn't even know she was betrothed to Elmar Frey, whose family subsequently murdered her mother and brother.

Based on Maggy the Frog's prophecy, poor Myrcella may not have much of a future while Arya definitely has a chance to survive to the end of the books.

A bit too obvious, but all in good time. 

The Lannister character that is most similar to Ned is probably Kevan. They were second sons, highly capable in their own right and principled men who are loyal to a more ruthless lord who is/views them as a brother (Robert for Ned, Tywin for Kevan). Both wind up getting killed by children (indirectly with Ned).

 

 

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On 7/14/2020 at 11:47 PM, Hodor the Articulate said:

Stannis and Ned. Both have a rather rigid sense of justice, but Ned's is tempered by compassion.

Don’t forget the way Robert views them contrasts; Stannis is Robert’s brother who he never got along with while Ned is the brother Robert wishes he had.

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On 7/12/2020 at 1:09 PM, King Adrian Storm said:

Grrm is good at making charactaers who are parallel to each other in a lot of ways. Sometimes it's a darker version of a character, and sometimes it's a character who has the same beliefs. To add on to this post I want to talk about mirror characters who are likely to have a confrontation in the next books. I find it interesting when you have similar characters oppose each other.

1. Ramsay and Jon Snow- Both are bastards to Northern Lords. Ramsay is basically what Jon could have been if he didn't have Ned. He's a perfect foil to Jon. There should definitely be a battle between the 2 at some point in the story. I think Ramsay will come to the wall, and Jon will have to defend castle black against him. And if Jon is resurrected and a darker character than he was before it will be interesting to see their interaction.

2. Dany and Stannis- This is a confrontation I'm dying to see. I am going to make another post involving Stannis, so I won't dive too deep into how I think their interaction will go down. But the'r parallels are obvious. Both are very entitled, and believe themselves to be the rightful heir. They could never be allies because neither would bow to the Other. Stannis believes in the red god, and Dany likley will too after meeting the red priest. Both believe in fighting for the greater good, but will they agree to work together, or will they fight over who's in charge.

These are the main two I want to talk about, because I find them fascinating. I know Jon and Dany, and Dany and Aegon are mirror/foils as well, but those conversations have been done to death.

If there are any other couples like this post them.

Probably not a mirror-foil but a mirror-mirror: Ned and Selmy. Both trying to do the honorable thing, both caught up in conflicts that their soldier training has not prepared them for, both likely to die because of this . . .?

 

On 7/13/2020 at 6:58 PM, Angel Eyes said:

Sandor Clegane and Littlefinger are surprisingly similar characters despite being on different sides of the physical spectrum. One could say that Sandor is Littlefinger writ large; Littlefinger is a two-face politician while Sandor is literally two-faced. Both were idealistic kids growing up and received a harsh lesson in how the world worked, receiving permanent injury (The Hound had half his face melted while Littlefinger was nearly gutted open). Both grew up to be very cynical individuals that have strange feelings for Sansa Stark, who for them represents what they were before their life-changing event.

Sandor, the Harvey Dent of aSoIaF? :D

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A foil is somebody who prevents another from getting what they want.

Galazza Galare vs. (Barristan, Tyrion, and Victarion).  The Green Grace will foil their attempts to break the siege of Meereen.  She has a strong force hidden inside the city and poised to attack the heroes from behind.  The fight won't be settled until Queen Daenerys, the Khaleesi, arrives with her Dothraki.  

Mance Rayder vs. Stannis vs. Roose.  Stannis and Roose will battle.  Roose wins but Mance and the free folk will get help from the most savage wildlings of all.  The free folk fight the winner of the battle and win.  Mance will die and Jon will inherit the north.  Nobody will be able to foil Jon, too bad.  The north can stop anybody coming from the south to retake the north.  

(Sansa , Littlefinger) vs. Jon.  Sansa will make a move to take Winterfell and the north from Jon.  The Starks will be divided.  Arya will take Jon's side.  Jon, Arya, and Rickon dies and become direwolves if Sansa wins.  

Daenerys vs. the Khals.  The khals will hate the idea of ending slavery.  Daenerys will have to take control of the Dosh Khaleen in order to take control of the Dothraki.  This is the key to ending the trading of slaves.  

Asha Greyjoy vs. Euron Greyjoy.  It will be Asha who will foil Euron's ambitions.  

Cersei vs. Arianne.  I know Cersei is set up for a downfall at the hands of the Valonquar but that is only a prophecy.  Cersei is an endgame player.  I don't see a path to victory for Arianne.  Aegon will survive and meet Daenerys after this conflict with the Lannisters.  

Daenerys will foil the Azor Ahai pretenders.  Stannis, Jon Snow, and Aegon.

Moqorro will foil Victarion's attempts to steal the dragons.  

Every protagonists will have to face up with an enemy or two.  

 

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1 hour ago, Targaryen Restoration said:

A foil is somebody who prevents another from getting what they want.

Galazza Galare vs. (Barristan, Tyrion, and Victarion).  The Green Grace will foil their attempts to break the siege of Meereen.  She has a strong force hidden inside the city and poised to attack the heroes from behind.  The fight won't be settled until Queen Daenerys, the Khaleesi, arrives with her Dothraki.  

Mance Rayder vs. Stannis vs. Roose.  Stannis and Roose will battle.  Roose wins but Mance and the free folk will get help from the most savage wildlings of all.  The free folk fight the winner of the battle and win.  Mance will die and Jon will inherit the north.  Nobody will be able to foil Jon, too bad.  The north can stop anybody coming from the south to retake the north.  

(Sansa , Littlefinger) vs. Jon.  Sansa will make a move to take Winterfell and the north from Jon.  The Starks will be divided.  Arya will take Jon's side.  Jon, Arya, and Rickon dies and become direwolves if Sansa wins.  

Daenerys vs. the Khals.  The khals will hate the idea of ending slavery.  Daenerys will have to take control of the Dosh Khaleen in order to take control of the Dothraki.  This is the key to ending the trading of slaves.  

Asha Greyjoy vs. Euron Greyjoy.  It will be Asha who will foil Euron's ambitions.  

Cersei vs. Arianne.  I know Cersei is set up for a downfall at the hands of the Valonquar but that is only a prophecy.  Cersei is an endgame player.  I don't see a path to victory for Arianne.  Aegon will survive and meet Daenerys after this conflict with the Lannisters.  

Daenerys will foil the Azor Ahai pretenders.  Stannis, Jon Snow, and Aegon.

Moqorro will foil Victarion's attempts to steal the dragons.  

Every protagonists will have to face up with an enemy or two.  

 

Is it? I thought foils (in the literary tradition) were characters who offer contrasts to one another.

Like Aemon the Dragonknight is a foil for Jaime; they both served as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, was one of the best swordsmen in their day, and were accused of sleeping with the queen (who happened to be their sister) and siring one of the King’s children (or more in Jaime’s case, I wonder why Daemon’s supporters never accused Daenerys of being Aemon’s daughter). However, Aemon is viewed as one of the best Kingsguard and died protecting a cruel king, while Jaime killed a cruel king and is reviled for it.

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Tyrion Lannister and Sam Tarly. Both are bookish young men who have abusive fathers who won't see anything good about them and were given an option to take the Black. Their personalities are very different however, as Sam is timid while Tyrion channels his bitterness through wit and sarcasm.

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