Jon of the Dead Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I was an elementary school teacher for a number of years, so any time I see a poorly adjusted child, I'm more inclined to feel disgusted at their parents than I am at them. Lysa over-mothered Robin to an extreme degree, and while he's not too old to be corrected in his behavior/expectations, it would require a much more concentrated effort than I think Sansa is capable of or Littlefinger is willing to give (Sansa being barely a child herself and LF being a psychopath). As a result, if allowed to come into his title he would be a poor lord and the Vale would suffer for it, and the blame falls almost entirely on his mother (Jon Arryn may have been busy as Hand, but he should have paid more attention to his son and heir).Yes, I'm a part-time teacher and I feel the same way about him. At first I wanted him and Lysa to take a one-way trip through the moon door, but now I just feel sorry for them. Lysa had a pretty crappy life, and Robin too if you think about it. The part when Sansa and Robin go down to the mountain in the basket really made me feel bad for that poor kid. I don't think Sansa's gonna kill him. This is GRRM we're talking about, he loves to laid out the plans just to shatter them to pieces later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 This train of thought confuses me. Especially, seeing how Jaime, Sandor, and Theon repeatedly(and rightly) receive shit for their killing or attempted killing of a child/ren yet here are a number of people talking about their desire to see another child poisoned simply because he is slightly annoying. Quite frankly, IIRC Robin hasn't performed any monstrosities thus I don't why he is deserving of death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSongs Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I'm with Minsc on this one. Robin is a product of Lysa's fears. Seems like Sansa is his only real hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilrob6 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 With Lysa death and if taken away from Littlefinger, Robert could still grow up to be a fine young man if he has the right people around him. And i agree to Minsc that he didn't do anything that is deserving of death. I still have hope for that kid. But he needs less milk and more messages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mountain That Flies Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 This train of thought confuses me. Especially, seeing how Jaime, Sandor, and Theon repeatedly(and rightly) receive shit for their killing or attempted killing of a child/ren yet here are a number of people talking about their desire to see another child poisoned simply because he is slightly annoying. Quite frankly, IIRC Robin hasn't performed any monstrosities thus I don't why he is deserving of death.While we don't know anything about the miller's kids, the other victims you're referring to (Mycah and Bran) are either major protagonists or allies of major protagonists. It's extremely unfair to say it, but the fact that Robin is such a pain in the ass to three different protagonists (especially compared to Mycah or Bran) makes disliking him very easy. We don't violently dislike the kid, and I doubt most of us really want him to die. But Robin as heir to the Vale gives Littlefinger power (which he could well lose if Harry the Heir and Sansa take over), so him being removed from his position will help one our heroes and hurt one of our villains.Unfortunately, the only real way for him to lose said power is to die, this being a feudal world and all. It sucks, especially since everything that's wrong with the kid (at least emotionally/mentally) is the result of bad parenting by Lysa and Jon Arryn, but it's the reality of the situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Sweetrobin is a spoiled brat and his illness is annoying. So what? I wouldn't wish to spend time with him but wish him luck and his caretakers all the patience they gotta need.Wishing him dead is imho quite monstrous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samwell Gamgi Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 He is as annoying as a pawn in the game can get. Either he better start reforming (yeah, right) or he better just die. I've had enough of his fit scenes and tantrums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samwell Gamgi Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Sweetrobin is a spoiled brat and his illness is annoying. So what? I wouldn't wish to spend time with him but wish him luck and his caretakers all the patience they gotta need.Wishing him dead is imho quite monstrous. It's just a book. It's not like a real kid is being wished dead. Who really cares about some annoying story piece's life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsc Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 While we don't know anything about the miller's kids, the other victims you're referring to (Mycah and Bran) are either major protagonists or allies of major protagonists. It's extremely unfair to say it, but the fact that Robin is such a pain in the ass to three different protagonists (especially compared to Mycah or Bran) makes disliking him very easy. We don't violently dislike the kid, and I doubt most of us really want him to die. But Robin as heir to the Vale gives Littlefinger power (which he could well lose if Harry the Heir and Sansa take over), so him being removed from his position will help one our heroes and hurt one of our villains.Unfortunately, the only real way for him to lose said power is to die, this being a feudal world and all. It sucks, especially since everything that's wrong with the kid (at least emotionally/mentally) is the result of bad parenting by Lysa and Jon Arryn, but it's the reality of the situation.Actually, Robin dying helps Littlefinger as seen how LF is planning to kill him. Moreover, Tommen's continued rule helps Cersei yet nobody seems to be demanding that they desire Tommen be slowly poisoned for that reason only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House Lunny Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I don't feel disgusted but I find myself really hating him and wanting him to be killed off.Me too. He's the most irritating character in the books by far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The last Khaleesi Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I feel conflicted on the topic of Sweetrobin. He is annoying but he's only a sick child who's probably scared to death after losing both parents and having a step dad that treats him with thin veiled contempt and does not care about him at all. So I don't feel disgust, but rather pity him. Poor kid with that mother how could he be normal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WatcherOnTheWall Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Yep, HATE him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandyjane Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 He bugs me so much that the first time I read the books, I did want him to hurry up and die. Obviously in real life I would never want a child to die, but reading about him annoyed me so much that I wanted him out of the story. The second time around he irritated me just as much, but then I had the idea that it might be interesting if he grows up to be a Teddy Roosevelt-like person: very weak and sickly kid, but strong adult. I'd kind of like it if Jon Arryn's seed really did end up being strong! (No, I know that's not what he meant.) The only way I see that happening for him, though, is if someone forced him to man-up before it's too late. Unless GRRM does something really unexpected with his story, I don't see how that's going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildBlood Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 It's just a book. It's not like a real kid is being wished dead. Who really cares about some annoying story piece's life? :agree: If I applied real world morals to every character I wouldn't read any books anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Greg of House House Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Anyway, what helped me is that a friend told me to think of Sweetrobin as a young Buster (from Arrested Development). Now I just have to laugh when I think about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errant Bard Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 It's just a book. It's not like a real kid is being wished dead. Who really cares about some annoying story piece's life?Those who wish that annoying story piece dead, I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mountain That Flies Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Actually, Robin dying helps Littlefinger as seen how LF is planning to kill him. Moreover, Tommen's continued rule helps Cersei yet nobody seems to be demanding that they desire Tommen be slowly poisoned for that reason only.I agree bumping of Robin is part off LF's plan, but I am of the opinion it will backfire on him. The specifics of how/why are for a different thread, but suffice to say Sansa will not be as pliable as he believes, whereas controlling Robin is very easy.You bring up a decent point with Tommen, but there are two flaws to your argument. One, Cersei has already been removed from her position of authority without any harm coming to Tommen, so he doesn't have to die to get her out of the way (not saying this can't change, but as of right now she is powerless). Two, Martin has gone out of his way to showcase Tommen as a very good kid, mostly to make his eventual death hurt that much more. Robin is not nearly as pleasant for readers to encounter as Tommen is, so Tommen's death is less looked for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samwell Gamgi Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Those who wish that annoying story piece dead, I'd say. Not so. Perhaps they just wish for the removal of an annoyance rather than a dead child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gurkhal Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Nothing wrong to root for someone who is in a bad spot because of circumstances that are out of his hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Greg of House House Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Not so. Perhaps they just wish for the removal of an annoyance rather than a dead child.Uh... It's a book. If real children were being killed, I would wish for democracy, trials and everything to be peacefully boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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