A Song of Ice and Fire - A Chapter a day discussion
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09/21/15 - Chapter 65: Arya V
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Your point 5, now that you mention it, I think you may be right! I was under the impression they were guarding a lot of people from going out or coming in, but I'm sure Cersei especially would want to find Arya at all costs. I'll bet they were specifically looking for her. It really comes in handy for her, then, that she so easily looks and acts like a boy!Your point 10, I just now realized that this could have been one of Cersei's traps, to try to fool Arya into thinking she would be safe with these men. She is smart not to run up to them just because they wear Winterfell colors.
Your point 16, I'm sure that if Arya wasn't so frantic for her father's life then she would have felt really, really, terrible for her sister, even though she knew she was right about Joffrey the entire time (I don't think she'd rub it in her sister's face even if they were together). But there's nothing she can do for her at this point. If Arya had gotten caught this book series would be totally different, I think.
1. The names of the streets and districts inside King’s Landing is so odd. Arya passes the Street of Flour, which makes sense since she smells bread baking, but some are called the Mud Gate, Flea Bottom, and Pig Alley...lol. Whoever named the city wasn’t very creative, it sounds.
2. As Arya’s catching pigeons, a septon happens to be walking by. I love how he hurries away when she says thisis the best place to find pigeons, like she’s a hobo, lol. You’d think he’d feel compelled to give her money for food, being a septon after all. Arya seems socially awkward around a lot of people. I just love her!
3. Interesting how a push cart says, “The Others take your pigeons,” like it’s a common curse word. They’re so far from the Wall. I like that he can read her mind and warns her not to steal anything off his cart. She’s not as sneaky as she probably thinks!
4. Arya’s avoiding the City Watch. Makes sense. She sees the rotting heads on the Red Keep’s walls, probably afraid they mean to kill her too. That is so barbaric, by the way, displaying rotting heads on the Capital’s walls... You’d think the Red Keep would have a little more class. But then again, this is Joffrey we’re talking about.
5. Arya finds out the king is dead from rumors off the streets. How he died is vague, and word of her father is even more vague. It must suck not knowing.
6. Apparently she’s stuck inside the city. All the gates are either barred or well guarded. They search every wagon to make sure no one gets out without their permission. The Blackwater river is treacherous, so she can’t swim out either. That really sucks.
7. She’d eaten two pigeons raw -- gross! -- before she discovered in Flea Bottom some pot-shops (which I’m assuming are soup shops) will trade your pigeons for a bit of food, or will even let you cook your own stuff by their fires. That’s nice of them. She didn’t want to know what they put in their soup of brown, though, lol. But these shops are always full of shady people so she has to be careful every time she goes. Some tried chasing her before but she always outruns them. That’s good!
8. Interesting she slept on top of Needle or else someone would have stolen it like they stole her other bag of belongings -- that must have been uncomfortable! It’s worth everything to her. :)
9. I’m shocked the pot-shops would pay a few coppers for a litter of pups! Would it taste anything like veal? You do what you have to to survive, I guess!
10. I can’t believe people would grab kids off the streets if they got too close to the buildings! What would they do? Rob, rape, sell you to a brothel? Ugh, even at the capital it’s not safe!
11. Arya thinks about her family again, missing them like hell. :)
12. Poor Arya sees the ship she was supposed to use to go home but it’s still docked here. She doesn’t recognize the guards, though they’re dressed in Winterfell colors. I wonder what would have happened if she told them who she was. I think it’s smart of her to not automatically run but pretend she’s a boy, to lose their interest when she offers to sell a pigeon. The poor girl wanted to cry, though. So close, but so far away! And she loses her pigeon, too.
13. All of a sudden everyone is running to see the “summoning.” They say it’s about the king’s Hand, her father. Of course she runs to join the crowd. She fits right in with all the peasants. They’re right in front of Baelor’s Great Sept on top of Visenya’s Hill. It sounds like a nicer district.
14. I think it’s interesting that Arya finds a place to watch between the statue of Baelor the Blessed. She’d gotten his white marble stained with her blood climbing up from when she’d hurt herself. Baelor is also known as “The Septon King.”
15. Here she sees her father -- he’s wearing a grey wool cloak and a white wolf sewn on it in beads. He looks much thinner, even from here, and his cast is grey and rotten, wtf The High Septon is behind him and is fat and decked out in riches. Seems odd for a religious man... Lots of hypocrites in this city!
16. Joffrey is here, and his council and the Queen, who is still in her black and red...Targ colors. And Sansa is there too, looking happy. Of course Arya scowls at this.
17. Poor Ned tells the crowd he’s confessing his treason; this upsets Arya because she knows he wouldn’t do such things. It is very sad to hear Ned lie so much, and then people throw rocks at him! The nerve of these people! And none of the guard are doing anything about it. Tells you a lot about this city... I smiled when the Kingsguard shielded Joffrey and Cersei, ha! I hope some were aiming for them!
18. Poor Arya prays to the gods to keep her father safe, but she’s far from the North. I don’t know if her gods can hear her.
19. I like that the High Septon says the gods are just but also merciful. It sounds like he knew hte plan was to spare Ned if he confesses his crimes.
20. Joffrey says his mother wants him to let Ned take the black, and so does Sansa, but the little shit surprises everyone by commanding Ser Ilyn to bring him his head. I remember being so totally shocked the first time I read this, even though I saw all the signs that he didn't belong in King's Landing. A big part of me thought he would outsmart the Lannisters and take the black, and then have that moment with Jon. Now I expected his death but it’s still so sad...so many people really thought Ned would be spared! Joffrey is TRULY a little shit! A saying by Jon Snow. I also see now that this wasn’t part of the plan. Cersei is seen talking to Joffrey, Varys rushes up and waves his arms around, and the High Septon is clutching Joffrey’s cloak. I don’t think it’s an act. I think they are all truly shocked, just as the reader is.
21. Poor Sansa is screaming now. Her plan hadn’t worked after all. I can only imagine what’s going on inside Ned’s mind...maybe a part of him is glad that he’ll finally be with Lyanna again, or maybe he realizes he’s just lied for nothing...how horrible! And it’s his own blade Ser Ilyn uses, too! No doubt Joffrey’s doing.
22. Out of nowhere Yoren manages to locate Arya in the crowd. He keeps calling her “boy” and tells her not to look. He takes her into a building of some sort and grabs her hair with one hand and a knife in the other. If you haven’t read A Clash of Kings yet then this scene really makes you think he’s going to kill her, but that makes no sense because the Night’s Watch doesn’t kill innocent people within the realm. So what is he doing with that knife, scaring the living daylights out of Arya? You’ll just have to keep reading!
23. And just as we left off last chapter with Dany mourning Drogo’s possible death, Arya loses her father with the swing of a sword. George Martin’s last few chapters are getting SO intense!
Cersei is smart, so I think she tried to think what Arya might do, so she could catch her. If those were her ideas, they weren't bad at all. It would be so much better for her if she had the two girls instead of only Sansa. She'd had more power to negociate.And I wasn't saying anything bad about Sansa in my point 16, I don't think there was anything she could do. I was just trying to point out how awful the situation was. And I do think like you, Arya would have felt really bad for her sister.
About your point 7, I think since Flea Bottom is full of poor people, they tried to help each other by trading animals and let people cook what they have. At least that was the impression I got, although not everybody is like that.
About your point 20, the first time I read the book I knew he was going to die, he was just so honest and good, and it's not a world for people like him. King's Landing is definetely not. But it was a shock to me how he died. Joffrey is a well known piece of shit at this point, but I think now you get the hint how much power he has, and how he does whatver he wants. I do think Cersei didn't know about this, and trusted her son would do what she told him. I think she knew it would mean a war without peace if this happen.
The last chapter are so intense indeed! I read them all in a sitting the first time. So much going on!
1-Arya has nothing to eat, so she catch pigeons to exchange them for food. Alredy a hard beggining for this chapter, and also we can see how strong this girls is, she is taking care of her on as good as she cans. She thought of stealing food, but some goald cloaks were near. I liked how she remembered Syrio's lesson, and saw she could have robbed the man if she wanted to.
2-Of course, she is trying to be as far as she can from the castle. She knows they are looking for her. She mentioned she could see the heads in the pikes. I don't think she was able to see their faces, but I think she has an idea who they might be.
3-The bells rang a day and a night so people had no doubt Robert died. I'm sorry, but that must be so annoying. And lol at the stories people tell about how Robert died.
4-She is a Flea Bottom, and knows why it is called like that, she has fleas on her. I know that's the least of her worries, but still.
5-She wacthed all 7 doors everyday, she is trying to scape but if the doors aren't close, they are heavily guarded. People couldn't leave, the guards search everything. Is this just for her?
6-She even ate raw pigeons. She is so strong, all the things that are happening to her and she's still got it all together.
7-Now, this gave me chills. She exchanged the pigeons for food in the pot-shops, but people (and I am guessing more if not all were men) watched her, and not in a nice way. She was even followed! I believe they were thinking about raping her, and they may have thought she was a boy. This is so wrong, even if they saw she was a girl or thought of her as a boy.
8-She lost pretty much all she took from the castle the first night, when she was robbed. This is so sad. Also, this freaked me out so much: "Often as not, she went to bed hungry rather than risk the stares." Omg! I can't even with this.
9-She had to be really careful, people might grabbed her if she walked near the walls. Flea Bottom is such a brutal and horrible place. She tried to make friends, but the kids didn't want her, and I think it was for the best. They don't seem like good kids.
10-She saw Winterfell cloaks in the ship that was supposed to take her home, but she remembered, and she saw, and they were strangers. I am glad she stopped to think.
11-Bells start ringing, and a boy told her it was because they were about to cut her father's head. She fell, and hurt herself really bad. All this things happening to her, so sad.
12-She found a place to see, in the feet of Baelor. Interesting. She saw her sister, and wondered why she looked so happy. Well, not for long sadly.
13-Ned confessed, he even said he wanted the throne for himself. I wonder if he came up with that or if someone told him to say so. People threw rocks at him! Oh, if they knew!
14-Fucking Joffrey speaks, and tells the people his mother asked for Ned to take the black, and Sansa for mercy. But of course, being the monster that he is, says they have soft women hearts, and tells Payne to bring him Ned's head. This is so sad, and I felt sad this second time as well. So unfair.
15-Leaving sadness on a side, the fact that Cersei tried to tell Joffrey something (I am guessing to not kill Ned) and him not giving two shits about it, gives a pretty clear idea of what type of King Joffrey will be.
16-Arya tries to make her way through with Needle in her hand, and while she tries she hears Sansa screaming. This is so awful.
17-And Illyn Payne had fucking Ice with him! What an insult, I just can't with this people right now nor ever.
18-Yoren saw her, and told her to look at him instead of Ned. But she could still hear the sound. I am getting sad over Ned dying all over.
19-Yoren calls her boy a lot of times, so she would act like one from now on. This line was a really sad one to end such a sad chapter: "As the blade flashed toward her face, Arya threw herself backward, kicking wildly, wrenching her head from side to side, but he had her by the hair, so strong, she could feel her scalp tearing, and on her lips the salt taste of tears."