Starkess Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 I agree that it doesn't seem to fit Brienne's story arc, but at the same time, it could be the marking moment of a new direction to her story arc, which would also explain the purpose of leaving it cliffhanging. I agree that "sword" is an unsatisfactory answer, but I haven't heard any that I consider better. And I changed it because I decided being represented by a boy--even if he is one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies!--wasn't what I wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A wilding Posted May 7, 2007 Share Posted May 7, 2007 Not sure that the "seems to me I said I'd tell him to let you go" has any relevance to Brienne's case; the BwB used that trick to get information out of Merrett, whereas getting Brienne to agree to do something and then immediately killing her before she can do it seems completely pointless. Re "And if it's as straightforward as that, why cliffhang". GRRM does seem to dislike describing every moment of every character's life and in spelling everything out in words of one syllable (in refreshing contrast to some other fantasy authors) and IMO this is just a case where he has been a little more spartan that usual, perhaps with the idea of ending on a big a climax as possible. I can't agree with "sword" not fitting her story arc. In ACoK we meet her bodyguarding the man she loves, but failing to prevent his assassination and ending up as the sworn sword of someone completely different. In ASoS we have her attempting but failing to carry out the exchange of a prisoner she abhors, and ending up agreeing to search for someone else at the behest of the ex prisoner whom she has now come to respect (if not more ). In AFfC we see her failing in this search - so what is intrinsically unlikely about her setting off on yet another new mission? It is not as though GRRM doesn't have a track record of pushing his characters into awkward situations of drastically conflicting duties and responsibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 Not sure that the "seems to me I said I'd tell him to let you go" has any relevance to Brienne's case; the BwB used that trick to get information out of Merrett, whereas getting Brienne to agree to do something and then immediately killing her before she can do it seems completely pointless. Re "And if it's as straightforward as that, why cliffhang". GRRM does seem to dislike describing every moment of every character's life and in spelling everything out in words of one syllable (in refreshing contrast to some other fantasy authors) and IMO this is just a case where he has been a little more spartan that usual, perhaps with the idea of ending on a big a climax as possible. I can't agree with "sword" not fitting her story arc. In ACoK we meet her bodyguarding the man she loves, but failing to prevent his assassination and ending up as the sworn sword of someone completely different. In ASoS we have her attempting but failing to carry out the exchange of a prisoner she abhors, and ending up agreeing to search for someone else at the behest of the ex prisoner whom she has now come to respect (if not more ). In AFfC we see her failing in this search - so what is intrinsically unlikely about her setting off on yet another new mission? It is not as though GRRM doesn't have a track record of pushing his characters into awkward situations of drastically conflicting duties and responsibilities. Then again, the whole thing could be a gigantic set-up. Her last word could be something that does nothing to save her. We could have a new POV character starting off his chapters hearing her last word and wondering what she'd meant by it. Or, her last word could prove to be "Arughnughhhhhhgahhhuah...." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tywin Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 I agree that "sword" is the most plausible, and that Bolton, Hound, Frey, and so on don't make much sense as The Word. Sansa, Arya & Jaime I suppose have some potential to be The Word, but in the end I'm more interested in seeing whether Martin will kill off another viewpoint character rather than knowing which particular utterance saves Brienne. I still think there's a decent chance Brienne gets offed here, simply because Martin usually does a great job of keeping the story unpredictable. The predictability of saying "sword" would be a little disappointing. Regardless, it is the most logical thing for her to say. The "cliffhanger" (or whatever you wish to call it) smacks of those tv series with Daaah Dah DAH dah music before the commercial break. Not only that, but we've been privy to all of Brienne's thoughts for the whole chapter, and then all of a sudden we're kept in the dark? It's jarring. There are other instances of these incongruencies in the series, too. Anyway, it's clear that "Hodor" is the best thing Brienne could possibly say here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 8, 2007 Share Posted May 8, 2007 I'm going to stick with either "Arughnughhhhhhgahhhuah....", "SPOON", or "Arya"... But the more I think about it, the more I think we might be in the dark about it, because the chapter we'll finally hear it in will be the first POV chapter for another character. Maybe not even a new character. Could be UnCat will have a return to POV, or may be that blind Arya has herself a wolf dream and while she's running about as a wolf, she sees a woman being hung and that woman screams out a word... then she is left trying to figure out what the hell that dream was all about and what the significance of that word was... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkdeal Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 "SAPPHIRES" lol. It saved her butt before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Arg... Darned dirty double postings! sorry... read the next post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 "SAPPHIRES" lol. It saved her butt before. True that. And it's probably the most believable suggestion I have heard so far. If Stoneface (er...Stonheart rather... Stoneface would be Stannis's daughter) isn't actually AT the hanging... Then the people who are just might be susceptible to greed and bribery (or so she might be thinking... That would also fit with my theory that her last word will be a feature point for some new POV character... She'll blurt out something bizarre like "SAPHIRES" and the new POV will spend their entire story arc with the question burning in the back of their head... "Why Saphires?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerys Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 why can't she have said "bitch" or "bugger" or "you-are-so-going-to pay-for-this-when-we're-in-hell"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atheas Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Rosebud Followed by two long boobless chapters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syne Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Brienne probably said 'sword'. It's a real shame she couldn't just die quietly, though. I really hate that woman. Almost as much as I hate Cat.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Brienne probably said 'sword'. It's a real shame she couldn't just die quietly, though. I really hate that woman. Almost as much as I hate Cat.. I'm not so sure anymore... The more I think about it... "THAPHIRETH" is beginning to make more and more sense... either way, I am 99.99% certain that her story has ended... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoJojo Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 How about "Stop!" Yelled not by Brienne, but by Catelyn? Seems to me George left out not only what word was said, who exactly said it. I could be wrong, and I'm sure someone could post the text. It seems theres no other way for Brienne to survive, and if she dies we basically had to suffer 200 pages or so of her not-terribly-interesting story needlessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkdeal Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Actually, I do suspect that Brienne may yell "WAIT!" as if to say she will do what UnCat asked. I don't think it would be UnCat that would say the word though. The chapter is from Briennes POV and the last few lines of the chapter are all talking from Brienne or what she is doing. Not that I think she will actually kill Jaime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
random5435 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I didn't read through the whole 15 pages of this thread but i read bits and pieces of it... Has anyone thought that she might yell out "Robert" , That's what Beric was saying to the Hound wasn't it? That they were King Robert's men, sure the priorities might have changed a bit but I'm sure most of the BwB miss those times compared to what they are getting with Stoneheart. The main reason that i think this is when she was talking to Gendry right before Rorge and company set on the inn in Brienne's 2nd last chapter and i think she was figuring out that Gendry is Roberts bastard. She might also call out "Gendry" for that matter. This could be a plot twist as the BwB would realise that they have a Bastard son of the King they are/were following with them and would maybe set them up as a more major player in things.. then again they might not care and just hang the wench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redcandle17 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I didn't read through the whole 15 pages of this thread but i read bits and pieces of it... Has anyone thought that she might yell out "Robert" , That's what Beric was saying to the Hound wasn't it? That they were King Robert's men, sure the priorities might have changed a bit but I'm sure most of the BwB miss those times compared to what they are getting with Stoneheart. The main reason that i think this is when she was talking to Gendry right before Rorge and company set on the inn in Brienne's 2nd last chapter and i think she was figuring out that Gendry is Roberts bastard. She might also call out "Gendry" for that matter. This could be a plot twist as the BwB would realise that they have a Bastard son of the King they are/were following with them and would maybe set them up as a more major player in things.. then again they might not care and just hang the wench. I don't believe that the BwB doesn't already know whose bastard Gendry is. Thoros was a friend of Robert's before he got fat and debauched and lost his resembalance to his youngest brother and bastard sons. And having Gendry, the son of a tavern wench, doesn't do them much good. Maybe if they'd had Edric, the son of a highborn lady, it might have mattered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
random5435 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Well that was actually the point, they don't know, and Brienne is actually as good as anyone to make them see it as she knew Renly very well and the two of them look exactly alike except for Gendry breing more musculuar.. like let's say.. his brother Robert? I just want her to continue living because she seems to be the only character that we still get to see kill people one on one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I just want her to continue living because she seems to be the only character that we still get to see kill people one on one I'm not so eager... and not so thoroughly convinced that we won't get other one-on-one slayings soon... Besides, Brienne hasn't proven to be all that good at killing people one-on-one, has she? She needed Pod's help with one and Gendry had to save her from the other... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redcandle17 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I'm not so eager... and not so thoroughly convinced that we won't get other one-on-one slayings soon... Besides, Brienne hasn't proven to be all that good at killing people one-on-one, has she? She needed Pod's help with one and Gendry had to save her from the other... Oh, come on. You sound like Randyll Tarly. Pod threw a stone, which distracted one of the Mummers. Brienne still killed two mercenaries at once and a third after she'd made him dig a grave for someone else. She killed Rorge; Gendry killed Biter while he was eating Brienne's face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_BlauerDragon Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Oh, come on. You sound like Randyll Tarly. Pod threw a stone, which distracted one of the Mummers. Brienne still killed two mercenaries at once and a third after she'd made him dig a grave for someone else. She killed Rorge; Gendry killed Biter while he was eating Brienne's face. Okay, so she can get the job done... (I forgot about Rorge somehow, and must have downplayed the two mummers)... Still, I think she could use a bit more experience before we'll be able to call her Bronn's equal... and I don't think she's going to get that experience Hanging around where she is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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