Post by shymaid on Jun 17, 2018 17:18:54 GMT
This chapter doesn't have many direct hints. But I will comment on the indirect information I found and might what get the reader to ask some questions.
Firstly we get the first description and first meeting with little Lord Robert Arryn:
We are reminded of Arryn's last words, and I can't say that little Robert seem to live up to that in the obvious way. While I myself am agnostic on Robin's parentage (I don't have enough information), the reader's mind is led to search for another «strong seed». And to me Gendry really fits that.
We meet Mya Stone for the first time:
This has two parts. The first being that we'll learn later who her father is – though it is possible to guess who she is at this point. Here we get her age and hair, and she'll refer to «my father must have been» a couple of times in the way up the mountain which could tell the to looking for her father. And that is of course king Robert, and an observant reader might remember that Ned recalls this girl to be 17-18 now.
This, together with Catelyn's gut reaction in thinking about Jon makes me ask a few questions. Firstly, here we have a bastard who isn't hidden away from highborn from the outside. On the contrary, she's picked to escort Lady Stark up the mountain. So why was Jon hidden away and kept from King's Landing based on his bastard status? Secondly, why is she filled with both anger and guilt? Does she feel guilt for sending him to the Wall or her treatment of him in general? That she hid him away? Why is she angry? Basically we get back to the odd treatement and statments on Jon.
"And there is the boy."
"The boy? What of him?" She ducked her head as they passed under a low overhang of rock, and around a sharp turn.
Her uncle's voice was troubled. "Lord Robert," he sighed. "Six years old, sickly, and prone to weep if you take his dolls away. Jon Arryn's trueborn heir, by all the gods, yet there are some who say he is too weak to sit his father's seat. Nestor Royce has been high steward these past fourteen years, while Lord Jon served in King's Landing, and many whisper that he should rule until the boy comes of age. Others believe that Lysa must marry again, and soon. Already the suitors gather like crows on a battlefield. The Eyrie is full of them."
"The boy? What of him?" She ducked her head as they passed under a low overhang of rock, and around a sharp turn.
Her uncle's voice was troubled. "Lord Robert," he sighed. "Six years old, sickly, and prone to weep if you take his dolls away. Jon Arryn's trueborn heir, by all the gods, yet there are some who say he is too weak to sit his father's seat. Nestor Royce has been high steward these past fourteen years, while Lord Jon served in King's Landing, and many whisper that he should rule until the boy comes of age. Others believe that Lysa must marry again, and soon. Already the suitors gather like crows on a battlefield. The Eyrie is full of them."
"Mother?" a small voice said. Lysa whirled, her heavy robe swirling around her. Robert Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, stood in the doorway, clutching a ragged cloth doll and looking at them with large eyes. He was a painfully thin child, small for his age and sickly all his days, and from time to time he trembled. The shaking sickness, the maesters called it. "I heard voices."
(...)
Lysa seated herself near the fire and said, "Come to Mother, my sweet one." She straightened his bedclothes and fussed with his fine brown hair. "Isn't he beautiful? And strong too, don't you believe the things you hear. Jon knew. The seed is strong, he told me. His last words. He kept saying Robert's name, and he grabbed my arm so hard he left marks. Tell them, the seed is strong. His seed. He wanted everyone to know what a good strong boy my baby was going to be."
(...)
Lysa seated herself near the fire and said, "Come to Mother, my sweet one." She straightened his bedclothes and fussed with his fine brown hair. "Isn't he beautiful? And strong too, don't you believe the things you hear. Jon knew. The seed is strong, he told me. His last words. He kept saying Robert's name, and he grabbed my arm so hard he left marks. Tell them, the seed is strong. His seed. He wanted everyone to know what a good strong boy my baby was going to be."
We are reminded of Arryn's last words, and I can't say that little Robert seem to live up to that in the obvious way. While I myself am agnostic on Robin's parentage (I don't have enough information), the reader's mind is led to search for another «strong seed». And to me Gendry really fits that.
Her uncle swung off his horse. "What madness is this?" he said bluntly. Brynden Tully had never been a man to blunt the edge of his words. "A night ascent, with the moon not even full? Even Lysa should know that's an invitation to a broken neck."
"The mules know the way, Ser Brynden." A wiry girl of seventeen or eighteen years stepped up beside Lord Nestor. Her dark hair was cropped short and straight around her head, and she wore riding leathers and a light shirt of silvered ringmail. She bowed to Catelyn, more gracefully than her lord. "I promise you, my lady, no harm will come to you. It would be my honor to take you up. I've made the dark climb a hundred times. Mychel says my father must have been a goat."
She sounded so cocky that Catelyn had to smile. "Do you have a name, child?"
"Mya Stone, if it please you, my lady," the girl said.
It did not please her; it was an effort for Catelyn to keep the smile on her face. Stone was a bastard's name in the Vale, as Snow was in the north, and Flowers in Highgarden; in each of the Seven Kingdoms, custom had fashioned a surname for children born with no names of their own. Catelyn had nothing against this girl, but suddenly she could not help but think of Ned's bastard on the Wall, and the thought made her angry and guilty, both at once. She struggled to find words for a reply.
"The mules know the way, Ser Brynden." A wiry girl of seventeen or eighteen years stepped up beside Lord Nestor. Her dark hair was cropped short and straight around her head, and she wore riding leathers and a light shirt of silvered ringmail. She bowed to Catelyn, more gracefully than her lord. "I promise you, my lady, no harm will come to you. It would be my honor to take you up. I've made the dark climb a hundred times. Mychel says my father must have been a goat."
She sounded so cocky that Catelyn had to smile. "Do you have a name, child?"
"Mya Stone, if it please you, my lady," the girl said.
It did not please her; it was an effort for Catelyn to keep the smile on her face. Stone was a bastard's name in the Vale, as Snow was in the north, and Flowers in Highgarden; in each of the Seven Kingdoms, custom had fashioned a surname for children born with no names of their own. Catelyn had nothing against this girl, but suddenly she could not help but think of Ned's bastard on the Wall, and the thought made her angry and guilty, both at once. She struggled to find words for a reply.
This has two parts. The first being that we'll learn later who her father is – though it is possible to guess who she is at this point. Here we get her age and hair, and she'll refer to «my father must have been» a couple of times in the way up the mountain which could tell the to looking for her father. And that is of course king Robert, and an observant reader might remember that Ned recalls this girl to be 17-18 now.
This, together with Catelyn's gut reaction in thinking about Jon makes me ask a few questions. Firstly, here we have a bastard who isn't hidden away from highborn from the outside. On the contrary, she's picked to escort Lady Stark up the mountain. So why was Jon hidden away and kept from King's Landing based on his bastard status? Secondly, why is she filled with both anger and guilt? Does she feel guilt for sending him to the Wall or her treatment of him in general? That she hid him away? Why is she angry? Basically we get back to the odd treatement and statments on Jon.
Later Mya tells her that her love is Mychal Redfort and they plan to get married after he earns his spurs, but Catelyn thinks that this will never happen as his family would never agree with him marrying a bastard. Again, why does she fear Jon so much? Or his children? If an old and proud family won't take a bastard into it, isn't it probable that Jon wouldn't get an good marriage that would also give him support for a claim? Of course the bigger houses might give support, but he would still stand in a weaker position than if married into a powerful house to begin with. Or perhaps there has been signs that one of the bigger houses would be interested in marrying a daughter to him? So I guess her frear is tied to her suspition that his mother was highborn as well, and so making his status higher than what Mya's is.
There are much more interesting things to see in this chapter, and so it took me some time to finish it. But I will keep this post to parentage! Trying to be hard on myself here!