Rereading Tyrion

[Woman of War]

I think all three siblings are set up do be in constant comparison with their father.

And I guess this will seriously shape Tyrion's future storyline, there have been enough hints, Gemma Lannister's comparison and ".......would have poisoned the wells". I mean, from now on it has to be Tyrion's storyline who is the most concerned, it was him who has been the most tortured by Big Daddy and him who killed Tywin!

The relationship between the living and the dead man may be one of the most important interactions in future books.

But we are yet in the first chapters of aGOT, aren't we?

[Ragnorak]

Tyrion's Reading List

Tyrion I

• Unspecified 100 year old discourse on the changing of seasons
  

Tyrion shut the heavy leatherbound cover on the book he was reading, a hundred-year-old discourse on the changing of the seasons by a long-dead maester.

• Unspecified Valyrian Scrolls
  
• Ayrmidon’s Engines of War
  

Be gentle with the Valyrian scrolls, the parchment is very dry. Ayrmidon’s Engines of War is quite rare, and yours is the only complete copy I’ve ever seen.”

Tyrion II

• a rumination on the history and properties of dragons
  
• other unspecified rare volumes borrowed from the Winterfell library
  

and began to read about the properties of dragonbone. Dragonbone is black because of its high iron content, the book told him. It is strong as steel, yet lighter and far more flexible, and of course utterly impervious to fire. Dragonbone bows are greatly prized by the Dothraki, and small wonder. An archer so armed can outrange any wooden bow.

Tyrion had borrowed a few rare volumes from the Winterfell library and packed them for the ride north.

I will try and keep this updated as we go. Let me know if I miss anything.

[Lyanna Stark]

Some things that popped up to me on a reread are some "falsehoods" in Tyrion's (and other POVs) early chapters. One of these were:

Tyrion looking at Jon Snow and thinking: "Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son". While we can be fairly certain that looks-wise Jon takes after his mother very much, and his colouring is nothing like his actual father, Rhaegar.

[Blisscraft]

Excellent, Ragnorak! Thank you for the list. Already see so many hints as to the future: "Winter is coming;" as is, war, dragons and the effective use of dragon bone. Also, the reference to the dragon bone bow is interesting. Dany recieves one as part of the "traditional" gifts at her wedding to Drogo. She, as "tradition" would have it then, in turn, gives it to Drogo. After Drogo's death, she gives the bow to Aggo.

[pig]

I will try and keep this updated as we go. Let me know if I miss anything.

Not a part of Tyrion's reading list, but the book Chayle is reading 'A life of the Grand Maester Aethelmure' gets mentioned later by Pycelle:

We are not in the Free Cities where such things are common. Grand Maester Aethelmure wrote that all men carry murder in their hearts, yet even so, the poisoner is beneath contempt.

Given that: Tyrion is put on trial by a poisoner (Lysa), that he's later accused of poisoning Joff, that he steals poison from Pycelle, and that he crosses half of Essos with poisonous mushrooms in his boot, it might be worth keeping track of the books Tyrion doesn't read as well the books he reads.

[Newstar]

the poisoner is beneath contempt

And yet, Tyrion does poison Nurse in ADWD.

It's also been said in the books a few times that poison is a woman's weapon. (And people wonder why GRRM is accused of misogyny. Ha!)

[Lummel]

Ladies and gentlemen, due to the interruptions of real life and your sins, which I fear are many, I regret to announce a departure from our planned schedule as in place of Butterbumps the following chapter will instead be presented by me.

Tyrion III

Overview

The chapter opens with Tyrion at dinner with Lord Commander Mormont and his officers. The idea of joining the night's watch from chapter one is repeated here, but this time Mormont wants a man with intelligence. Mormont privately tells Tyrion how bad the situation is on the Wall. Too few men, the quality of those they have poor – boys, criminals, illiterates. He asks Tyrion to intercede on behalf of the Watch at court. Winter is coming, he tells Tyrion and it threatens to be a long and hard one (picking up on Tyrion's reading in Tyrion I) the fisherfolk have seen White Walkers by Eastwatch, Benjen and the Royce boy have gone missing. The future looks ominous. The vague unexpressed threat from the north chiming with the bleak symbolism of the dead direwolf from Bran I. Mormont wants Tyrion to pass word of this on to the Court, but Tyrion is certain that it will not be taken seriously.

Tyrion leaves the table. On his way back to his own quarters he decides on a whim to have a look from the Wall and takes the cage up to the top. There he walks along the Wall for a stretch with Jon Snow. Jon tells Tyrion of the efforts (not mentioning Donal Noye's intervention) that he is making with the other trainees – he is going to accept the challenge from Tyrion IIand face up to the hard truth. There's an example of Jon humour here as he asks Tyrion to take word back to Winterfell to tell Robb to take up needlework and have his sword melted down. He asks Tyrion to help Bran which Tyrion says he will. Jon calls Tyrion “friend” and “Tyrion found himself oddly touched.”

The chapter ends with another wolf howling.

Observations

• “Tywin Lannister gave us a splendid choice. Take the black, or see our heads on spikes before evenfall. No offense intended, Tyrion.” “None taken, Ser Jaremy. My father is very fond of spiked heads, especially those of people who have annoyed him in some fashion...” - the long shadow of Tywin set up for us here
  

Analysis

Aemon and Tyrion

Bowen Marsh said, “You have a great thirst for a small man.”

“Oh, I think that Lord Tyrion is quite a large man,” Maester Aemon said from the far end of the table...”I think he is a giant come among us, here at the end of the world.”...

...For once, Tyrion Lannister found himself at a loss for words...”You are too kind, Maester Aemon.”

The blind man smiled...”I have been called many things, my lord,...but kind is seldom one of them.”

I've chopped up the exchange for reasons of space. There is a lot going on here in my opinion, some of what I am going to say is speculative and much is going to take in other parts of the series.

First point. Aemon is a Targaryen and Targaryens are associated with the gift of prophecy. We're not aware of either point on the first reading so GRRM drops in another clue as to the significance of his words – Aemon is blind. Going back to Homer (not Simpson, the other one) the idea of physical blindness has been associated with poetic insight and prophetic vision (Tiresias is another example of a blind prophet). We are meant to take his words carefully.

Note then that he calls Tyrion “Lord”. This is extremely rare. Technically he isn't. As far as we know he bares no title and later we learn that Tywin has no plans to let him inherit Casterly Rock. In ACOK Tyrion is called Lord – but I am fairly sure this is on account of being Hand of the King. It's not until the very end of ADWD that Tyrion assumes the title of Lord of Casterly Rock for himself, but Aemon is already using the honorific here.

Next Tyrion is called a 'giant'. Obviously this is figurative but picks up on the moment at the end of Jon I which we have already mentioned when “for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king”. We are not meant to read this book only on a surface level. Aemon is telling us to consider the substance and potential of the character – look out. Later of course we learn that giants are an endangered species and their heads have more than once ended up on spikes above the gate at Winterfell. The strength of giants can also be hugely destructive. Beware Tyrion and beware to those you deal with him. In time the idea of the giant of Lannister will also be taken up and used first in comedy and finally tragically by Shae.

Last point on this topic Aemon is seldom called kind. His words are not flattery. We should understand them as cautionary. Aemon's wisdom was brought at a price, he says the truth but the truth isn't nice, it is something to be faced up to, sometimes a challenge to the hearer – thing of what he will tell Jon later at the end of AGOT. These are the words from the end of the table, from the ends of the seven kingdom to Tyrion.

Tyrion the Sympathetic and Tyrion the Lannister

Nice moments here with Jon show Tyrion at his best in terms of human interaction but notice again the “oddly touched” repeating the point already mentioned above from Tyrion II when Tyrion qualifies his feelings of guilt as being absurd. Tyrion has an ambivalence towards his own gentler feelings.

Still Tyrion is also a Lannister and expects his servant to put hot bricks in his bed and the men of the Night's Watch to operate the cage simply for his own pleasure. He enjoys a fine dinner and makes fun of the Night's Watch – this is his right as a Lannister. Of course we can feel that it's appropriate to side with Tyrion here because we know what Ser Alliser Thorne is like, but is does suggest the degree of arrogance in his character. The host is gracious, generous and gives Tyrion his confidence, in return Tyrion laughs at the Watch and it's endeavours. Not quite the ideal guest.

Next time I will be bringing you Tyrion IV. Today is sunday (well it is here at time of posting!), so expect to post T.IV sometime next wednesday.

ETA spelling

[Julian Rayne]

On the Lord honorific: In England, unlike Westeros, Lord isn't a distinct rank but just an honorific. It's appropriate to use it for all five ranks of peers, Earls, Dukes, Viscounts, Barons and Marquess. It is also an acceptable courtesy title for the younger sons of nobles who don't have a title of their own.

Now the waters are muddied in this case, because, as mentioned, England and Westeros differ from each other in this aspect. GRRM uses 'Lord' not just as an honorific but as a title for almost any non-royal noble from Lords Paramount to the minor lords at least three level down in the hierarchy. The significance of using that honorific for Tyrion could be any number of things. It could be foreshadowing, it could be a courtesy, or it could mean that the Watch considers Tyrion as Lord Tywin's proxy, at least in so far as his visit to the Wall is concerened.

On another note, I cannot imagine why 'kind' isn't an adjective often applied to Maester Aemon. He certainly appears kind through Jon and Sam's eyes.

[Harlaw's Book]

1. I think this chapter does for Tyrion what Donal Noye's lecture does for Jon. Now Tyrion's views on the Night's Watch are his own and not Tywin's.

2. I know GRRM couldn't spill the beans on Maester Aemon's family so soon, but I wonder if Tyrion had/has inkling of it.

3. Considering who Tyrion spends a lot of time with in ADWD, I'm hoping this chapter is going to be referenced in the future.

[Winterfellian]

He enjoys a fine dinner and makes fun of the Night's Watch – this is his right as a Lannister. Of course we can feel that it's appropriate to side with Tyrion here because we know what Ser Alliser Thorne is like, but is does suggest the degree of arrogance in his character. The host is gracious, generous and gives Tyrion his confidence, in return Tyrion laughs at the Watch and it's endeavours. Not quite the ideal guest.

This is a good observation Lummel. I will also add that when Mormont told him that maybe Sir Allister got it right and that Tyrion is mocking them his answer was:

We all need to be mocked from time to time, Lord Mormont, less we start taking ourselves too seriously

However the situation is not very partial here because Tyrion is the one doing all the mocking as became the Lannister in the room; no one in the table is mocking him unless we are to take Aemon's little speech that follows shortly after Tyrion's declared the above.

1. I think this chapter does for Tyrion what Donal Noye's lecture does for Jon. Now Tyrion's views on the Night's Watch are his own and not Tywin's.

I think the 2 situations are actually contrasting to each other if we were to compared them. We know that Jon did benefit from Noyle's advice to view the NW different that from what he did at first but am not sure that Tyrion's view of the NW is much unchanged after his visit and Mormont's plea. To me it seems like he has come to respect or like some of the men like Mormont. Aemon and even Yoren but his sentiments toward the institution are pretty much what they have always been. Even after visiting the watch for himself his own views are not too separate from those of Tywin.

For example, after Mormont pleaded for his interference with Robert and the rest Tyrion's acquiescence comes not from a new found respect for the NW but from sort of embarrasment for Mormont on account of him having spent so much of his life in the NW. And even them he admits that his interference won't extend to anything more than relating their needs to Robert, Cercei, Jaime and Tywin. Like his little favors during the march from Winterfell where he shared his wine he is quite content to assume the same position he took when Benjen and the others were setting up the camp which is basically doing nothing or at least nothing that inconvenience him or his own comfort.

About the scene with Jon I find it interesting that Jon drives home the idea of the power behind Tyrion's words and in effect are his words that will both save him and condemn him time and time again in the future.

[Lyanna Stark]

Regarding Aemon and Tyrion, it actually struck me on a reread that Aemon's sizing up of Tyrion is pretty freaky, and feels almost hostile or at least as Aemon himself says: not kind. Which is strange since Aemon comes across almost like a kindly old man (not THAT kindly old man tho) in Sam's and Jon's chapters, but with some bite, but towards Tyrion he is very different.

One bit that I wondered about was how Aemon seemed to see Tyrion and actually look at him, although he is blind. Maybe it had to do with the Targaryen talent for prophecy, but I wonder if Maester Aemon does not carry a fair bit of resentment towards the family who killed the last of his. Tyrion is the son of the man behind the killing of Rhaegar's children and I am sure Maester Aemon does not forget that. He may be old, frail and no longer "formally" a Targaryen, but we see how Jon feels about Arya's wedding to Ramsay in ADWD. Even if you are supposed to forget, you don't and you can't forget completely.

I wonder if Aemon, who has tried to divorce himself from his Targaryen heritage so much and for so long, doesn't feel Tyrion's presence bringing all the things he cannot allow himself to dwell on back sharlpy into focus.

Of course, that doesn't explain the "giant among us" comment, and it really feels as if Aemon foretells some of Tyrion's future, but the hostility may be based more in Targaryen animosity towards Lannisters than a judgement on what Tyrion will become.

We all need to be mocked from time to time, Lord Mormont, less we start taking ourselves too seriously

I agree with Winterfellian's interpretation that Tyrion is the one doing the mocking here. It's also another example of what I'd call a "falsehood" or an "untruth" since Tyrion likes to mock things, sure, but he hates being mocked himself. He rarely, if ever, tolerates it without biting back, hard, and it's one of the things he is really sensitive about.

Tyrion hands out advice to people that he is not very good at living up to himself. "Embrace it and make it your strength" with regards to his status as a dwarf, he only follows this half heartedly and the mocking he hardly follows at all.

Or perhaps we are seeing Tyrion "deconstructing" himself and his own advice since he ends up in situations where he is unable to apply his own advice, or he doesn't have the mental fortitute to do so. What is certain is that as of early AGOT and these Tyrion chapters before he is captured and taken to the Eyrie, he is definitely more flippant, easy going and "untested". He's never really done anything really dangerous or had any really important position; he is a man of leisure.

Tyrion of ADWD is more jaded, not so much about other people perhaps (he seems to have had a healthy dose of that already) but in regards to himself. In AGOT, he still thinks of himself as a decent person, despite the moral compass pointing straight towards Casterly Rock (as evidenced by him not outing Jaime and Cersei to Ned after Bran's fall, or at least trying to find out what they were hiding exactly), but ADWD Tyrion knows the monster within.

[Lummel]

...On another note, I cannot imagine why 'kind' isn't an adjective often applied to Maester Aemon. He certainly appears kind through Jon and Sam's eyes.

Aemon is kindly, but he speaks the truth. The truth is many things but rarely kind. So a truthteller is not going to be seen as kind either I think.

...2. I know GRRM couldn't spill the beans on Maester Aemon's family so soon, but I wonder if Tyrion had/has inkling of it...

Yes god point. It's something that is really raised in ADWD by Lady Dustin, but it's always there - who are these Maesters, what are their interests and biases.

At this stage Tyrion is still international man of leisure - is he asking himself these questions yet?

[Julian Rayne]

2. I know GRRM couldn't spill the beans on Maester Aemon's family so soon, but I wonder if Tyrion had/has inkling of it.

He probably knows. Jaime thinks that he's a history buff. During his arguments with the Halfmaester he demonstrates detailed knowledge of the (early) Targaryen family tree. And 'Aemon' is pretty uncommon name outside of the Targaryens.

It makes Jon seem a bit dull for not realizing it himself. Unless he focussed his entire quota of Targaryen interest on the Young Dragon.

[Lummel]

...To me it seems like he has come to respect or like some of the men like Mormont. Aemon and even Yoren but his sentiments toward the institution are pretty much what they have always been. Even after visiting the watch for himself his own views are not too separate from those of Tywin.

For example, after Mormont pleaded for his interference with Robert and the rest Tyrion's acquiescence comes not from a new found respect for the NW but from sort of embarrasment for Mormont on account of him having spent so much of his life in the NW. And even them he admits that his interference won't extend to anything more than relating their needs to Robert, Cercei, Jaime and Tywin...

I would agree. Mormont tells Tyrion things that worry him - the threat of a long hard winter, the White walkers seen near Eastwatch, the loss of Benjen and Royce. But Tyrion doesn't seem to have a frame of reference for these things.

There was a point made in the Learning to Lead threads about Jon that he hadn't lived through a long winter, similiarly here Tyrion is ignornant of what it is like and what one has to do to survive a long hard winter in the North. The idea has resonance for Mormont, but not Tyrion, in this respect he too is a sweet summer's child.

He does pick up on on the creepiness of beyond the Wall though. When he's up on the Wall with Jon it's "the edge of the world" he can see "the dark trees looming...like a second wall...a wall of night" where "even the moonlight could not penetrate the ancient tangle of root and thorn and grasping limb...the trees grew huge...they seemed to brood and knew not men".

It's a vision of an alien world, conscious, not human but powerful. The jokes about snark don't seem funny and Tyrion almost can believe in the Others.

Regarding Aemon and Tyrion, it actually struck me on a reread that Aemon's sizing up of Tyrion is pretty freaky, and feels almost hostile or at least as Aemon himself says: not kind...One bit that I wondered about was how Aemon seemed to see Tyrion and actually look at him, although he is blind. Maybe it had to do with the Targaryen talent for prophecy, but I wonder if Maester Aemon does not carry a fair bit of resentment towards the family who killed the last of his. Tyrion is the son of the man behind the killing of Rhaegar's children and I am sure Maester Aemon does not forget that. He may be old, frail and no longer "formally" a Targaryen, but we see how Jon feels about Arya's wedding to Ramsay in ADWD. Even if you are supposed to forget, you don't and you can't forget completely.

I wonder if Aemon, who has tried to divorce himself from his Targaryen heritage so much and for so long, doesn't feel Tyrion's presence bringing all the things he cannot allow himself to dwell on back sharlpy into focus.

Of course, that doesn't explain the "giant among us" comment, and it really feels as if Aemon foretells some of Tyrion's future, but the hostility may be based more in Targaryen animosity towards Lannisters than a judgement on what Tyrion will become...

I agree on that Aemon's comments do stand out on the reread. There's an element of setting the reader up for what is to come - Tyrion will become a important figure.

I like the idea of house hostility with perhaps Aemon recognising Tyrion as a kindred spirit, some one inevitably involved in the politics of westeros at the highest level because of his birth.

One aspect of westeros that is returned to is that the rejection of family required by the kingsguard, the Maesters and the Night's watch is respected and valued precisely because the claims of family ties are so overwhelming in this society.

[Lyanna Stark]

He probably knows. Jaime thinks that he's a history buff. During his arguments with the Halfmaester he demonstrates detailed knowledge of the (early) Targaryen family tree. And 'Aemon' is pretty uncommon name outside of the Targaryens. It makes Jon seem a bit dull for not realizing it himself. Unless he focussed his entire quota of Targaryen interest on the Young Dragon.

I'm not sure that Aemon is that uncommon. We have an Aemon Estermont and a travelling singer called Aemon as well. There are also Aenys, at least one Aegon and a Rhaegar Frey so the Targaryen names seem to get around a bit at least.

Tyrion, with his know how, would have been able to piece together Aemon with prince Aemon Targaryen though due to his age, plus I doubt it's unknown that Aemon became a Maester. However, thinking that Jon should have figured it out is probably a stretch. He's just not that well read, and probably knows of enough other people with Targaryen themed names for it not to stand out too much.

[Lyanna Stark]

Right so I finally got hold of my notes (yay):

• Tyrion provoking Ser Alliser: This is a distinct difference between the Tyrion we know from ASOS and ADWD. He still gets in trouble sometimes because of his big mouth, but here he is making an unnecessary enemy, for no other reason than being flippant and having fun at someone else's expense. His defence is that Ser Alliser paints a target on himself, but even if he does, perhaps it is not always the wiser course to automatically make an enemy of that man? Jaime pre loss of hand has the same flippancy. It's as if Tyrion and Jaime of AGOT and ACOK somehow believe that Tywin's influence is absolute and they can never be touched as his sons. Of course, they eventually learn differently, but here it really feels as if Tyrion doesn't care if he makes an enemy, since how could Ser Alliser ever harm him? Tyrion sees himself as a special, higher up sort of person. Untouchable, in a way.
  

• "I have seen dead men with more humour than your Ser Alliser": Perhaps like the dead smiling man Tywin Lannister? Is this possible foreshadowing that Tywin Lannister who never smiled became "humorous" after death? What seems like a flippant comment at first seems rather sinister on a reread, perhaps because dead men have a tendency to not stay dead anymore (wights, Gregor Clegane, Beric, Coldhands, Jon Conn with his Greyscale etc. plus all the metaphorically "dead" people, like Sansa, Sandor, Tyrion himself to a degree, Theon perhaps).
  

• Regarding mocking: Tyrion ignores his own advice in this very chapter since he wants to throttle Mormont's raven for calling out "Fool". It's only an animal, but Tyrion still doesn't take mocking easily.
  

• Mormont himself is lampshading Lummel's et al's "Learning to lead" threads when he says (italics according to the text):
  

Apart from the men at my table tonight, I have perhaps twenty who can read, and even fewer who can think, or plan, or lead. Once the Watch spent its summers building, and each Lord Commander raised the Wall higher than he found it. Now it is all we can do to stay alive.

• Tyrion's "strange madness" to forego the comfort of his chambers and instead go towards the Wall. Does it possibly foreshadow that he will foresake wordly comforts at some point in the future to go to the Wall to do something? To follow a purpose that is more important than a life in comfort? Tyrion often feels a bit "un-Lannister" when he performs acts of kindness or follows a different moral compass than the one pointing towards Casterly Rock. It's further enhanced I think by Tyrion's own comment on it:
  

It would be his last chance, he thought; tomorrow he would ride south, and he could not imagine why he would ever want to return to this frozen desolation.

Well, how about "on a dragon, fighting the Others", maybe? Could that be a reason why he would return to the Wall? Tyrion starts out in AGOT talking about dragons, how he dreams about dragons, and then immidiately he visits the Wall. For him to return to the beginning with a dragon would mean he'd come full circle (and he'd be able to prove Jon Snow wrong: there are still dragons in the world).

[Lummel]

This is carefree Tyrion that we are seeing in these chapters. The laughter at Mormonts table reminds me of Tyrion remembering meals with his uncles when he would practice tumbling and joking about.

Equally it's not the behaviour you'd expect from Tywin or The Ned, for them the Lordly role is earnest and dignified. Tyrion looks more like his grandfather Lord Tytos here (possibly one reason why Tywin finds his son annoying).

Irritating Thorne is needless, not that I would loose any sleep over that. The interesting thing for me is that Thorne and Tyrion are similiar in liking to make fun of others, but really not being able to deal with being made fun of or even the possibility of others looking down at them.

And you keep notes of your reading Lyanna? :) eh, the discipline of it.

[Blisscraft]

Maester Aemon - As far as I can tell, this is Aemon's first appearance in the book. Interesting that it is as a "prophet." Also, the timing of Aemon's appearance is interesting in that it follows the dialogue about Rykker and Thorne being on the "wrong side." The Lannisters were also on the "wrong" side until they switched sides.

Tyrion the Messenger - The first to request that Tyrion bring a message is Mormont. He asks Tyrion to tell his sister, the Queen, and the King of the NW's need. "The Night's Watch is dying," he tells Tyrion. Mormont expresses the need and fear with winter coming and ultimately pleads, "Tell them Tyrion. Tell them and make them believe."

Tyrion promises to speak to the Robert, Tywin, and Jaime. Tyrion . . ."was as good as his word." But, leaves "the rest unsaid" to Mormont. Even with a sincere message, Robert would ignore it, Twyin would ask if he had "taken leave of his senses" and Jaime would laugh. Does this have to do with the message or the messenger or the recipients?

This sentiment is repeated when Jon Snow asks Tyrion to take a message to Winterfell, especially regarding Bran. Jon Snow asks Tyrion to "help Bran. . . you helped me when I needed it." Tyrion says, "I gave you nothing. . . Words." Jon replies, "Then give your words to Bran, too." Tyrion's response is comic, but ambivalent. "You are asking a lame man to teach a cripple to dance. . . However sincere the lesson, the result is likely to be grotesque." (Funny that Bran's pony equiped with the "special saddle" is named Dancer).

Tyrion seems to see himself as an unlikely messenger. Whether it is because of the message itself, the messenger, or the recipient of the message is unanswered. However, Tyrion promises to deliver them.

Alliser Thorne - Tyrion crosses forks swords with Thorne ealier in one of Jon's chapters. When Thorne comes to get Jon at Mormont's request, Jon fears for his uncle, Benjen. Thorne refuses to tell Jon why Mormont wants him. Tyrion forces Thorne to "stop scaring" Jon by threatening to tattle in the "right ear" at court and prevent any more new recruits for Thorne to train. A thorn in Thorne' side. Also, later in the Jon chapter when Jon bets against Thorne that he can train the recruits, Tryion breaks the tension about the bet by guffawing. Not only is Thorne Jon's enemy, but Tryion's as well. Tyrion's contempt for Thorne will backfire for the Night's Watch later when Tyrion is Hand. All the help Tyrion promised is for naught when he, as Hand, ignores Thorne's message (along with a hand) at King's Landing.

Winter Child - Tyrion thinks about his birth during a long winter. "He had been born in the dead of winter, a terrible cruel one that the maesters said had lasted near three years, but Tryrion's earliest memories were of spring." (my emphasis). As noted by Lummel, Tryion is a "summer child," but with a winter birth, in the dead of winter. Also, his birth resulted in the death of his mother. An inauspicious beginning to say the least.

More later.

[Foxhound]

The flip side to Tyrion being sensitive to mockery is he's also very susceptible to praise. He is quick witted as usual with the officers, but when Aemon offers praise he is literally rendered speechless. Gratitude to compliments is fine as long as it doesn't start affecting your judgement on the sincerity of those comments.

The idea of the Wall as the end/edge of the world is mentioned a few times in A Game of Thrones, and quite frequently in this chapter, once in Aemon's words and twice in Tyrion's thoughts. Now we'll learn later not only how far the world really extends beyond the Wall, but that the Wall is not quite the impenetrable barrier dividing the two sides that it appears. But for Tyrion, it might as well be the edge of his world. He may have looked over that edge and gotten a chill, but ultimately he still heads down and back South and almost never looks back. He followed Jon here, but from now their paths will significantly diverge. Tyrion's plotline will be one of the most "natural" ones, affected by magic only rarely and indirectly. Even among the Lannister POVs he has the least exposure to prophecy and sorcery. The political struggles of the south and his own family dynamics will be what dominate his story. The issues involved in everything beyond the Wall have, so far at least, not entered into his world.

Other observations:

• In comparison, the end of the world for Robert is Winterfell, where he sees Ned as stuck and of no use to anyone (i.e. him). Jon, at least at first, sees the Wall as the end. In Bran's dream however, the end of the world is far to the north, made of a "curtain of light", beyond which lies the "heart of winter."
  
• Tyrion notices Bloodraven warging Mormont's raven, and is annoyed by it. But is the raven calling just Mormont a fool for sending out Royce, or also Tyrion one for not taking Mormont seriously?
  
• On Tyrion as a Lannister, we learn during his talk with Mormont he was born in a bad winter that lasted three years. Not good circumstances to be born a dwarf, so another illustration of Lannister privelege. On the other hand his thoughts also emphasized how much more limited his influence on his father and sister is compared to what Mormont might have hoped.
  
• It seems strange how much Mormont wants to rely on Tyrion delivering his message, instead of a more direct appeal to Ned Stark in his new role as Hand.
  

[Natalie_S]

Alliser Thorne - Tyrion crosses forks swords with Thorne ealier in one of Jon's chapters. When Thorne comes to get Jon at Mormont's request, Jon fears for his uncle, Benjen. Thorne refuses to tell Jon why Mormont wants him. Tyrion forces Thorne to "stop scaring" Jon by threatening to tattle in the "right ear" at court and prevent any more new recruits for Thorne to train. A thorn in Thorne' side. Also, later in the Jon chapter when Jon bets against Thorne that he can train the recruits, Tryion breaks the tension about the bet by guffawing. Not only is Thorne Jon's enemy, but Tryion's as well. Tyrion's contempt for Thorne will backfire for the Night's Watch later when Tyrion is Hand. All the help Tyrion promised is for naught when he, as Hand, ignores Thorne's message (along with a hand) at King's Landing.

I don't quite agree with this.

Tyrion mocks Thorne when he gets to KL, but in fact does everything he's able to do at the moment to help him, as Varys understands:

"You give that black brother the men he seeks, rid the city of some hungry mouths, yet make it all seem mockery so none may say that the dwarf fears snarks and grumkins. Oh, deftly done."

This is mirrored in Tyrion's thoughts during his talk to Thorne: "A dwarf enjoyed at best a tenuous hold on dignity. Once the court and kingdom started to laugh at him, he was doomed. And yet . . . and yet . . ." [...] "“Arrest some more, then,” Tyrion told him. “Or spread the word that there’s bread and turnips on the Wall, and they’ll go of their own accord.” The city had too many mouths to feed, and the Night’s Watch a perpetual need of men."

His position is not as strong as it might seem and he has to be careful with the requests he receives, he can't afford to be laughed at.

He might feel a lot of contempt towards ser Alliser, but in practical terms this doesn't affect the NW.