Rereading Tyrion VI (ADWD)

[Ser Pollo Loco]

"We performed for the Sealord of Braavos once, and he laughed so hard that afterward he gave each of us a . . . a grand gift."

This grand gift may be useful to Tyrion later on, it could be iron coins for the FM, coupons for assassinations and/or get-out-of-jail-free cards for when one becomes a target for them.

As for the old dwarf in Tyrosh who was killed to be presented to Cersei; rest assured his killer is given by Cersei to Maester Qyburn.

a well-thumbed tome about the erotic adventures of a young slave girl in a Lysene pillow house, and the fourth and final volume of The Life of Triarch Belicho, a famous Volantene patriot whose unbroken succession of conquests and triumphs ended rather abruptly when he was eaten by giants.

Could this be foreshadowing for Aegon? Serra was from a Lysene pillow house according to Illyrio, and Aegon's campaign before Dany arrives will be an unbroken succession of conquests and triumphs, given that the opposition is led by Mace and Cersei. His campaign will end when Dany contests with him with Tyrion, referred to as a giant, commanding her forces.

possibly, even likely, but i wouldn't discount an actual giant if Jon sides to back Dany, we know of two places that have secret entries barred by gates, Giants specialty. It may foreshadow Dany's first victory with Tyrion before they switch to guerrilla tactics

[greensleeves]

Thanks for the analysis Lummel!

Moqorro and the stinky steward

“Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all.” p436

“So Selaesori Qhoran means Stinky Steward, more or less?” p437

Moqorro's small man with a big shadow puts me in mind of both Varys' 'shadow on a wall' and Maester Aemon's a giant come among us.

I suppose people have connected the stinky steward to the perfumed seneschal in Quaithe's prophecy? I have to admit I'm not up to date on current theories.

As for the dragons... The Targs (or supposed Targs) out there are Aemon (Is he still alive at this point?), Aegon, Jon, and Dany. I suppose between them you could account for all those descriptors, and Tyrion is only person to have met all of them.

a well-thumbed tome about the erotic adventures of a young slave girl in a Lysene pillow house, and the fourth and final volume of The Life of Triarch Belicho, a famous Volantene patriot whose unbroken succession of conquests and triumphs ended rather abruptly when he was eaten by giants.

Could this be foreshadowing for Aegon? Serra was from a Lysene pillow house according to Illyrio, and Aegon's campaign before Dany arrives will be an unbroken succession of conquests and triumphs, given that the opposition is led by Mace and Cersei. His campaign will end when Dany contests with him with Tyrion, referred to as a giant, commanding her forces.

Tyrion says there are three books and lists three, but prefaces the last with the word 'fourth'. I suppose this is just a mistake by Martin that the editors didn't catch? Anyways, I don't know about the symbolism of the books, but I'm glad he's reading one with a female protagonist (even if it is erotica). His tendency towards misogyny has previously been noted, but maybe this combined with the beginnings of a friendship with Penny could signal future growth?

Some things that stuck out for me:

Tyrion Lannister had scant experience with other dwarfs. His lord father had not welcomed any reminders of his son’s deformities, and such mummers as featured little folk in their troupes soon learned to stay away from Lannisport and Casterly Rock, at the risk of his displeasure. p. 441

Did Cersei not approve the scheduled entertainment? Surely she must have known her fathers feelings on the subject.

By the time the storm broke, evening was upon them and Tyrion Lannister was soaked through to the smallclothes, yet somehow he felt elated … and even more so later, when he found a drunken Jorah Mormont in a pool of vomit in their cabin.

p. 442

I found the whole storm sequence to have an almost baptismal feel to it. I liked that Tyrion choose to face the storm.

Tyrion had wanted desperately to go with them, but his lord father had dubbed the voyage a “fool’s quest,” and forbidden him to take part. p. 446

Lannister family dynamics are so complex. Is this really the same Tywin that placed his son on the vanguard (supposedly to conveniently kill him off)? It seems like this 'fool's quest' would have been a good way to get rid of an unwanted son. Maybe it was just too foolish and would have looked bad? What goes on in your head Tywin Lannister?

[Lummel]

...a well-thumbed tome about the erotic adventures of a young slave girl in a Lysene pillow house, and the fourth and final volume of The Life of Triarch Belicho, a famous Volantene patriot whose unbroken succession of conquests and triumphs ended rather abruptly when he was eaten by giants.

Could this be foreshadowing for Aegon? ... His campaign will end when Dany contests with him with Tyrion, referred to as a giant, commanding her forces.

:dunno: but since we learn in ADWD that giants are vegetarian the book has to be a fantasy of some kind. :)

I'm more inclined personally to think that the grand gift was something very exciting to Penny, but which she realised would not impress Tyrion, like a handful of silver coins or a ring from his finger or silk cape to make into clothes for themselves. We've seen how Tyrion rewards smallfolk, something along those lines.

...I suppose people have connected the stinky steward to the perfumed seneschal in Quaithe's prophecy? I have to admit I'm not up to date on current theories.

I think shortly after ADWD came out :laugh: you should have seen what the forum was like then for a couple of weeks as thousands of people struggled to read the book and post their latest ideas as quickly as possible.

As for the dragons... The Targs (or supposed Targs) out there are Aemon (Is he still alive at this point?), Aegon, Jon, and Dany. I suppose between them you could account for all those descriptors, and Tyrion is only person to have met all of them.

That is an interesting point. It links back to Tyrion being a relative dragon expert and writing down everything he knew for Connington, turns out he is an expert on living Targaryens too.

Tyrion says there are three books and lists three, but prefaces the last with the word 'fourth'. I suppose this is just a mistake by Martin that the editors didn't catch?

I read that as meaning that the third book was published in four volumes and they only have volume four on board the ship.

By the time the storm broke, evening was upon them and Tyrion Lannister was soaked through to the smallclothes, yet somehow he felt elated … and even more so later, when he found a drunken Jorah Mormont in a pool of vomit in their cabin.

p. 442

I found the whole storm sequence to have an almost baptismal feel to it. I liked that Tyrion choose to face the storm.

Good that you pulled that out because looking at it, it fits together with the line about dropping over the side and his thought about sharing a wish to die with Penny. He could have killed himself with the mushrooms since Tyrion I ADWD, here he could have dropped over the side but instead chooses to face the storm and feels elated by it. That's a positive at least. :)

[greensleeves]

I think shortly after ADWD came out :laugh: you should have seen what the forum was like then for a couple of weeks as thousands of people struggled to read the book and post their latest ideas as quickly as possible.

I bet! It must have been a madhouse. I assume there was a great big 'I told you so' thread to match.

I read that as meaning that the third book was published in four volumes and they only have volume four on board the ship.

Ah, yes. I think I mind must have been skipping over a word or two earlier.

[Uncat]

Connington, Mormont... the grumpfy ones turning out to be the real helpers while the colorfull mummers from red priest to white elephant and black sellsword are quick with the word fried but just foster him for their plans. From Pennies POW bth. Tyrion is the grumphy one helping her.

It also links into the fact, that it is better to rely on those who don't use the word but act on the meaning of it. A thing Tyrion Lannister still has to learn because up to now, most - if not all of his friends - were word-friends.

[Uncat]

Oh, btw.: Tyrion spend his last sea voyage drunk in belly of the ship, wanting to die. This time he is up on the deck, facing the storm. And what he finds in the cabin later on, is like a look back on himself on his last crossing, seen through the eyes of a stranger. He gets show just what shipwreck he was back then.

[Woman of War]

..........

It also links into the fact, that it is better to rely on those who don't use the word but act on the meaning of it. A thing Tyrion Lannister still has to learn because up to now, most - if not all of his friends - were word-friends.

I agree but there might be one exception in the end: Jon, wherever or whatever he might be by then.

[Uncat]

I actually had Jon in the grumpfy but acting category. I think, I mentioned this, but talking about Benjens ranging expedition Jon claims that he will search for Benjen, incase he gets lost. And Tyrion thinks "and who will and find you?" (or something along that line) which had the answere "you, Tyrion" almost instantly popping up in my head.

:dunno:

ETA

Ok, that was stupid. That would be Tyrion helping Jon and not grumphy Jon hellping Tyrion.

[butterbumps!]

Hey all....I finally had a chance to access the forum last night and catch up (still out of the country with limited resources though- I can't quote from the text at the moment). Thank you so much DP and Vipe for filling in Tyrion VII- great job.

Going back to Tyrion VII for a second, I found the Tyrion's remark that "Life is a jape" one of the more significant lines. I know we've been discussing the Fool identity, and I think this line touches on one of the less-acknowledged aspects of Fooldom: the association of the Fool with Death. I think Tyrion generally taps into the "wise fool" trope that's commonly recognized, but as we progress, I think the Fool/ Death identity might have a lot of significance. In case it hadn't already been mentioned, during the Middle Ages (perhaps earlier), Death was often depicted as a jester, suggesting that Death is the ultimate joker, and by extension, that life is something of a joke (I think we see this existentialist bent in Brienne's arc especially).

This has been the identity interpretation that's stood out to me the most over these past 4 or so chapters, perhaps even starting with his pocketing of the mushrooms much earlier. He's developed a highly sardonic and ambivilent attitude toward life and death. Perhaps more importantly, he's very matter-of-factly been recognizing his list of enormities (commiting a few more in the process, though recognizing that they were mistakes almost immediately), and almost coming to peace with his less savory aspects at this point. Whereas he would never recognize his crimes without justifications, now he recognizes them as moral failures; that he jokes about them sardonically doesn't mitigate the fact that his character is growing from this recognition, in my opinion. He's no longer pretending to be good or justified, but seems to be accepting his own human condition and all its sinfulness, while simultaneously operating from an almost nihilist worldview (I think his nihilism has only really "flowered" since DwD, despite his having had dark humor in previous books).

I think the connection to death has been expressed in various subtle ways throughout these chapters; the fact that Tyrion is seen as a talisman for luck, yet brings ill-fortune to all that come by him, as others have pointed out, that his mere existence as a dwarf means death to other dwarves thanks to Cersei, perhaps even all of the large shadow references allude to this. The Tyrion=death connection has been there from almost the beginning; his association with the Stranger is one of the most prominent connections that comes to mind. I think that the layer of the Fool gives this an additional dimension of significance (though, I suppose I am something of a Fool enthusiast, so maybe I'm looking at this too deeply). At any rate, I'm starting to think that Tyrion-as-Fool will either be the last man standing in all of this, a kind of nefarious joker figure, who brings ruin to all intentionally or not, or if he will undergo another identity change post Meereen, revising this nihilism.

One other aspect that strikes me is how Tyrion's thoughts about dwarfism unfold in chapter 8. His embarrassed outrage over the names Penny and Groat chose, their line of work, and their attitudes toward dwarfism really complicate Tyrion's personal understanding of what it means to be a dwarf. I can't figure out if he is something of a dwarf activist in his views. On one hand, he seems to aproach this issue from the view that what Penny and Groat did was akin to presenting themselves as an "Aunt Jemima" figure of dwarfism, perpetuating stereotypes and making it seemingly difficult to earn respect as Tyrion sees it. On the other hand, Penny has an idealism and innocence that her worldview allows; either she does not see or is unbothered by the potential "ablist" condemnations Tyrion is aware of and haunted by.

I detect something of a solidarity that stirs in Tyrion, as well as a bit of an "I'm not one of you" attitude, producing a complex duality in his attitudes toward dwarves, and by extension, his own self-acceptance.

And making this even more interesting is the fact that it's not merely dwarfism that confronts Tyrion in his association with Penny. She asks why Tyrion did not just ride the pig and make the people laugh, given how badly his refusal to do so played out for everyone. Yes, there's the issue of how dwarfism affects people's perception, and he couldn't give in to what he knew Joffrey would consider weakness, but ultimately this stunt has everything to do with the adage "when the lords play their game it's the smallfolk who play." Looking at the refusal to mock-joust from any noble perspective, it's clear that Tyrion could not and should not have indulged Joffrey's cruel game. However, not doing so caused untold misery for so many parties, that it starts calling into question whether Tyrion made the right decision at the wedding (I still think he did, for the most part). Though I tend to think that Penny's outrage is largely misplaced, I think the widened perspective of the smallfolk's reaping what the nobles have sown does Tyrion a benefit in offering a view less solipsistic.

(also, my device doesn't have spellcheck, so sorry in advance)

[Ragnorak]

I think this is a substantial internal development chapter for Tyrion probably best described by greensleeves choice of phrase that Tyrion chose to face the storm.

Imprisonment is a big theme in Tyrion both from external forces and internal choices. Even at his seemingly most free point back in Clash he still felt trapped in Kings Landing by Cersei's scheming so he had to send LF to negotiate with the Tyrells. His secret meetings with Shae and fear of discovery add to this feel. His being hated by the smallfolk made the Red Keep a bit of a prison inside Kings Landing just as the external threats from Stannis and Renly made Kings Landing a prison for him within the Seven Kingdoms. When he travelled it was often in a curtained litter.

Perhaps his non-literal imprisonment might be better described as sheltered or hiding from the storm. Much of the unrest in Kings Landing was Joffrey's doing and Tyrion was working to prop up Joffrey's reign despite whatever attempts he made to mitigate that unrest. For all the well intentioned good he tried to do he never "faced the storm" that his actions were aimed at allowing Joffrey to stay on the throne and continue to create the the very problems he was trying to fix. It was somewhat similar to Tywin's claim that the blood of the Red Wedding was on Walder Frey's hands without acknowledging his role in propping up Frey.

In this chapter Tyrion explicitly acknowledges the blood on his own hands. He doesn't make the rationalizations regarding his own actions that Tywin made to him about the Red Wedding or the fate of Elia and her children. He admits that his actions played a role in the fate of the two dead dwarves even though their deaths don't belong at his feet. This is a huge change in Tyrion's previous view of his own responsibility and the philisophical view of responsibility inherent in the Lannister system in general.

I like Lummel's observation about his Lannister status no longer protecting him. In fact he is hunted and hated for his Lannister status while being a dwarf is something that makes others view him positively. Tyrion used to enjoy tumbling and other mummer tricks to make others laugh prior to Tywin's dispproval. He's used self deprication as a ploy to make others laugh at him throughout the series. Penny's question about what is wrong with people laughing at you speaks to the heart of Tyrion's conflict with his inner Tywin.

There's also an implicit contrast between Tyrion and Jorah. Both are exiled lords. Both loved a worthy and unworthy woman. Each saw the truth of the unworthy woman through her choice of another man and betrayed the one worthy of their love. Jorah's choice to stay below deck during the storm offers him as a contrast to Tyrion's own inner state-- one that will continue through the end of the book.

Last chapter was the first one we saw Tyrion seem to learn the lesson of keeping his mouth shut. Here we see Tyrion applying that lesson more and without the threat of immediate repercussions from Jorah. He also deliberately avoids saying speaking certain truths to Penny that he previously would have blurted out as harsh lessons.

I like Fire Eater's Triarch Belicho foreshadowing. Since giants are in fact vegetarians the story must refer to a metaphorical giant which many have recognized Tyrion to be. It may even be accurate to attribute to Tywin who had a seemingly unbroken string of victories and was returned as Hand of the King before he was undone by our little giant.

[Elba the Intoner]

At the very end Moqorro tells Tyrion that the one shadow he sees the most is:

A tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms, sailing on a sea of blood.

That's referring to Euron, right? It's the only thing that seems to fit.

[Blisscraft]

Glad to see you've returned BB! Missed your insights. Love the "Aunt Jemima" Dwarf v. Activist Dwarf idea. I'll never look at syrup the same way again. :laugh:

[ShadowCat Rivers]

Hi, first time posting in this thread, really love the re-reads!

The analysis and comments above made me think of Tyrion's trip with the Stincky Stuard as detox therapy. Limitted external influences, only the blue. Cut off (be it temporarily) from the Game, he can face his internal ghosts that have hunt him all his life: his Lannister identity and his dwarfism (though he's not ready for his father yet).

[Lummel]

...And what he finds in the cabin later on, is like a look back on himself on his last crossing, seen through the eyes of a stranger...

That is really very interesting, it moves me as an idea one character looking back on another as an earlier version of themselves. I wonder if there are other examples of this?

...Going back to Tyrion VII for a second, I found the Tyrion's remark that "Life is a jape" one of the more significant lines. I know we've been discussing the Fool identity, and I think this line touches on one of the less-acknowledged aspects of Fooldom: the association of the Fool with Death. I think Tyrion generally taps into the "wise fool" trope that's commonly recognized, but as we progress, I think the Fool/ Death identity might have a lot of significance. In case it hadn't already been mentioned, during the Middle Ages (perhaps earlier), Death was often depicted as a jester, suggesting that Death is the ultimate joker, and by extension, that life is something of a joke (I think we see this existentialist bent in Brienne's arc especially).

since your internet connectivity is limited then you probably won't be able to comment if this or

were the kinds of things that you were thinking of. Death makes fools of us all (well most of us anyroad), Tyrion as messenger is a mobilising, disruptive presence at several points - the Inn at the crossroads, kings landing, with Connington and Aegon. But he also brings bad luck - in the form of death to the Vale, the Riverlands, the river Blackwater, The Stormlands now, random dwarves...

...One other aspect that strikes me is how Tyrion's thoughts about dwarfism unfold in chapter 8. His embarrassed outrage over the names Penny and Groat chose, their line of work, and their attitudes toward dwarfism really complicate Tyrion's personal understanding of what it means to be a dwarf...

I detect something of a solidarity that stirs in Tyrion, as well as a bit of an "I'm not one of you" attitude, producing a complex duality in his attitudes toward dwarves, and by extension, his own self-acceptance.

And making this even more interesting is the fact that it's not merely dwarfism that confronts Tyrion in his association with Penny... Looking at the refusal to mock-joust from any noble perspective, it's clear that Tyrion could not and should not have indulged Joffrey's cruel game. However, not doing so caused untold misery for so many parties, that it starts calling into question whether Tyrion made the right decision at the wedding (I still think he did, for the most part). Though I tend to think that Penny's outrage is largely misplaced, I think the widened perspective of the smallfolk's reaping what the nobles have sown does Tyrion a benefit in offering a view less solipsistic...

Penny's world outlook is also innocent and does not allow for sadism, for her there's no harm in being laughed at by the big man of the big people, for us having seen Joffrey chop up the wedding present earlier it is easy to think that it is a thin edge of a wedge issue. Today you joust on a sow for him, tomorrow you pretend to be a hare while he shoots at you with a fancy crossbow.

The dwarfism is interesting because of the duality. The Tyrion POV chapters are very conscious of Tywin noticing his dwarfism, the waddling the physical awkwardness. Yet we learn here that Tywin protected Tyrion (and presumably himself and the inviolate honour of Casterly Rock too) by disapproving of Tyrion's gymnastics, by banning dwarves from the area. So there is association and dissassociation from the beginning.

...Imprisonment is a big theme in Tyrion both from external forces and internal choices. Even at his seemingly most free point back in Clash he still felt trapped in Kings Landing by Cersei's scheming so he had to send LF to negotiate with the Tyrells. His secret meetings with Shae and fear of discovery add to this feel. His being hated by the smallfolk made the Red Keep a bit of a prison inside Kings Landing just as the external threats from Stannis and Renly made Kings Landing a prison for him within the Seven Kingdoms. When he travelled it was often in a curtained litter.

Perhaps his non-literal imprisonment might be better described as sheltered or hiding from the storm. Much of the unrest in Kings Landing was Joffrey's doing and Tyrion was working to prop up Joffrey's reign despite whatever attempts he made to mitigate that unrest. For all the well intentioned good he tried to do he never "faced the storm" that his actions were aimed at allowing Joffrey to stay on the throne and continue to create the the very problems he was trying to fix. It was somewhat similar to Tywin's claim that the blood of the Red Wedding was on Walder Frey's hands without acknowledging his role in propping up Frey.

In this chapter Tyrion explicitly acknowledges the blood on his own hands. He doesn't make the rationalizations regarding his own actions that Tywin made to him about the Red Wedding or the fate of Elia and her children. He admits that his actions played a role in the fate of the two dead dwarves even though their deaths don't belong at his feet. This is a huge change in Tyrion's previous view of his own responsibility and the philisophical view of responsibility inherent in the Lannister system in general...

Imprisonment, freedom, responsibility. All the big themes coming out.

Identity and roles tie into imprisonment and freedom. Being a Lannister kept Tyrion aloof, the curtains were closed and he was protected from the consequences of Lannister rule. But equally this was a subtle form of imprisonment and the denial or deniability of responsibility (think of Tywin implying a denial of the murders of Elia and children by blaming Tyrion for thinking that it was possible that he might of ordered such a thing) is a crippling, willful blindness. I would agree with what Butterbumps! said, even in the abuse of the sex-slave there was an admission of what she was, what she had suffered - not that this prevented him, but it seems better than a denial of reality.

...That's referring to Euron, right? It's the only thing that seems to fit.

That's what I've always thought :dunno:

...Love the "Aunt Jemima" Dwarf v. Activist Dwarf idea...

I'm really not getting this reference :laugh:

Hi, first time posting in this thread, really love the re-reads!

The analysis and comments above made me think of Tyrion's trip with the Stincky Stuard as detox therapy. Limitted external influences, only the blue. Cut off (be it temporarily) from the Game, he can face his internal ghosts that have hunt him all his life: his Lannister identity and his dwarfism (though he's not ready for his father yet).

I agree there is something therapeutic, not just about the voyage but the whole journey through ADWD, something of a pilgrimage, something of being forced to come face to face with issues that previously he had avoided or was capable of avoiding - like life as a dwarf, like being weak, like being politically meaningless so people can beat and enslave you with impunity. We see him with the sex-slave and later he ends up a slave and is grateful to be spared the indignity of having to strip naked. It's a tough education.

Glad you're enjoying the threads!

[Harlaw's Book]

That is really very interesting, it moves me as an idea one character looking back on another as an earlier version of themselves. I wonder if there are other examples of this?

I agree that this is a very interesting idea. Some other examples I can think of Jaime with Loras, Sansa with the Tyrell cousins, and possibly Bran with the Freys when he thinks about how he would have won the Lord of the Crossing game.

[butterbumps!]

since your internet connectivity is limited then you probably won't be able to comment if this or

were the kinds of things that you were thinking of. Death makes fools of us all (well most of us anyroad), Tyrion as messenger is a mobilising, disruptive presence at several points - the Inn at the crossroads, kings landing, with Connington and Aegon. But he also brings bad luck - in the form of death to the Vale, the Riverlands, the river Blackwater, The Stormlands now, random dwarves...

Yes, sort of; and I love the danse macabre, btw. Death was often depicted in jester attire, and consistently so in tarot decks. When I'm back at a computer, I can try to show paintings of this ilk.

Also, Lum., the "Aunt Jemima" reference I made may be an Americanism, so sorry. I was referring to especially racist stereotypes of the American South as "roles" one could take; "Aunt Jemima", "Uncle Tom", "Mammie" are the sort of "feeding into the majority's expectations with over the top stereotypical portrayals" I thought Tyrion might be criticizing Penny for.

[Lummel]

I agree that this is a very interesting idea. Some other examples I can think of Jaime with Loras, Sansa with the Tyrell cousins, and possibly Bran with the Freys when he thinks about how he would have won the Lord of the Crossing game.

Oh the Loras example is a good one, Jaime explicitly makes that comparison iirc.

... "Aunt Jemima", "Uncle Tom", "Mammie" are the sort of "feeding into the majority's expectations with over the top stereotypical portrayals" I thought Tyrion might be criticizing Penny for.

Uncle Tom and Mammie I recognise. Penny comes across to me as such a wide eyed innocent that I'm not sure if even Tyrion thinks that she could be deliberately playing up to a stereotype to get by in a big people's world, her brother though was meant to be the brains of the operation :dunno: it could be as much as anything that as a performing dwarf you don't have a real choice if you want to get by other than to play up to those stereotypes. If only they could read, a fine career in the service of Varys would have been open to them in the grand tradition of Bloodraven's famous climbing dwarfs :(

[Blisscraft]

Lummel - Aunt Jemima is a brand of pancake/waffle syrup in the US. Its icon is a older black woman with a red bandana wrapped around her head ala Mammy in GWTW. :frown5:

[Lummel]

Lummel - Aunt Jemima is a brand of pancake/waffle syrup in the US. Its icon is a older black woman with a red bandana wrapped around her head ala Mammy in GWTW. :frown5:

tastes like slavery isn't quite the unique selling point I'd assume a brand would like to have, unless targeted to appeal to a very peculiar market segment. I guess the logo has changed in more recent times?

Anyhow.

My impression is that the Tyrion chapters are more tightly interwoven than in earlier books. Tieing in slavery we have Tyrion thinking he's safe from being captured by slavers, to using a slave, to being chained as a slave almost from one chapter to the next. Brief freedom from House Lannister is followed by being chained to Mormont.

[Blisscraft]

About Tyrion's chapter and numbers:

Forgive me for stating the obvious. This is just a little reminder that numbers are not just for counting things. Nor are they only for making equations to calculate the diameter of a circle or balancing checkbooks. Numbers have a broad symbolic significance and the first ten numbers within the Greek system (numbers one through ten) each carry a specific meaning.

The first sentence in this chapter mentions the number seven (ADWD p. 434). It's the number of days that Penny spends below deck in her cabin.

The number seven represents a perfect order, a completed cycle. It is the union of the number three and the number four. The union of the trinity and quaternity. The triangle and the square. It's the scale in western music, seven notes. It's associated with seven deadly sins and seven cardinal virtues. It's a prime number which means that it is an irreductible datum; divisible only by the number one and itself. Seven days are in a week and four sevens equals twenty-eight days or the cycle of the moon, a month.

It's an extremely important number in the ASoIaF. Seven new gods, seven kingdoms, seven books in the series. . . you get the idea.

After seven days below decks, Penny has changed and Tyrion notes her change. She is still grieving, angry and heart broken, but she is no longer vengeful. Her worst now is a cup of wine in Tyrion's face, as opposed to a knife.

Above I noted that seven has a association with the moon cycle. There are a couple of references to the moon in this chapter. The first is when Tyrion comtemplates the sea on a moonless night. It's "black as maester ink" and calls him to think of suicide. The next mention of the moon is at the end of the chapter. Tyrion is above deck with Moqorro, the moon is "monstrous and swollen." It's full moon and shines so brightly that it produces a "twin" in the sea. (I'll talk about the number two or "the twin" later).

Finally, there is a mention in the conversation with Moqorro of the fourteen flames of Valyria. Basically, this is the addition of the number seven to itself. A cycle twice completed.

I'll talk about the other numbers later. Also, if you see anymore sevens in the chapter. Add to them. I am a bit rushed today and need all of the help I can get.