Episode 37: A GAME OF THRONES, BRAN V: "Bran's Day Out" SHOW NOTES!

Hello and welcome to the Not A Cast … podcast: the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week. I’m one of your hosts Jeff better known as BryndenBFish. 

And I’m your other host Emmett, better known as PoorQuentyn. 

Welcome to our thirty-seventh episode of the Not A Cast entitled: “Bran’s Day Out: An Analysis of AGOT, Bran V,” in which Bran Stark takes a lovely horse ride atop his brand new saddle, but in ASOIAF-fashion, it ends in blood. This episode is brought to you all by our newly-established Small Council: Hand of the King WolfmanZack, Grand Maester Timothy W, Jancy O, Lady Commander of the Night’s Watch, Lords Commander of the Kingsguard Mark N and Timothy W, Hayden J and our newest member of our small council: Archmaester June, Healer of the Lesser Poxes. Thank you, gentlemen and ladies! And welcome to the small council Archmaester June!

Spoiler warning: All published books - 5 novels, 3 Dunk and Egg novellas, histories, interviews, TWOW sample chapters, as well as Game of Thrones the TV show. Anything and everything!

Question

Lady Kinga T asks:

Hi guys, I love you show so much. I have been meaning to send you a question, but keep forgetting to do so. I have a longer question than this one I am going to ask, so I’ll leave that for another day, but for now I wonder how in tarnations (yes, I work with kids and thus have to come up with PG swear words) did Jaqen H’ghar get captured? He is a very capable assassin, yet he is brought out of the dungeons of Kings Landing. How is that possible?!?! Or is it just the simple manipulation of the story, where he somehow needs to meet and be saved by Arya?
Thanks a ton. Keep up the good work!

Ser James RW asks:

After 35 episodes I just doubled my monthly pledge in hopes of getting you closer to quarterly live shows.  My Question is - would more people do the same if you read this question in your next podcast?

Synopsis

The snow is falling. The gate is receding upwards. And life is magical and full of joy. Bran Stark is able to venture outside of the gates of Winterfell at long last and go see the beautiful world outside. What could possibly go wrong?

Bran, Robb, Theon, Luwin, Summer and Grey Wind and four men of the Winterfell guard are off to go explore around Winterfell, and Bran is riding on his new horse Dancer. Winterfell’s new Master of Horse Joseth had specially trained Dancer to become Bran’s mount and had then worked with Hodor and Bran to give Bran a feel for how to ride the horse.

But now they’re riding. They first venture out to the market square with its abandoned wooden stalls, pass by mostly-deserted houses in the Winter Town that Luwin assures Bran will be full soon with winter approaching. A few of the smallfolk that Bran sees watch the direwolves anxiously, but most people are familiar with the direwolves by this point. 

As they ride, Bran begins to settle more into the saddle. At first, Bran feels unsteady riding without using his legs, but the saddle that Tyrion designed eases him into riding. And he begins to feel more comfortable controlling the horse with his arms and upper body strength. 

The party crosses paths with two serving girls. One of them blushes away, and Theon, being a real bro, tells Robb about how Kyra, the one who blushed, squeals in bed like a weasel. Oh and by the way, let me tell you this awesome sex story about Kyra and Bessa within the hearing of your seven year old brother. Robb tells him to cut that shit out in front of Bran, but Bran hears enough anyways. He pretends not to have heard what Theon was saying and looks away, but he can feel Theon’s eyes on him. He never liked Theon like Robb did. Hm. About that.

Robb rides up to Bran and tells him that Bran’s doing well riding. Bran says he wants to go faster, and Robb obliges him. Bran feels his cloak billowing behind him, rippling in the wind and feels the snow in his face. Robb races on ahead of Bran, always looking back to ensure his brother is doing well. They race about two miles ahead of the Winter Town, and then they stop. Robb joshes with Bran about how he thinks Bran would win if they race. But Bran doesn’t want to race.

Did you hear Summer howling last night?

Robb did. Grey Wind was upset the night prior too. The direwolves seem to know things. Bad things. Robb isn’t sure how much tell Bran given his age, but after Bran tells Robb that he’s 8 and heir to Winterfell after Robb, Robb relents.

A bird came from King’s Landing the night prior. Dark wings. Dark words. They’d been getting a lot of those recently. A bird from the Castle Black, indicating that Benjen was still missing. Another from the Eyrie from Catelyn with news about Cat taking Tyrion prisoner. That one had sent Robb, Theon and Luwin into the council chamber for a full day. When they emerged from the council chamber, riders were dispatched and Bran heard talk of Moat Cailin. Ah, yes. For all your ugly bads listening who believed that Catelyn never sent Ned’s commands back to Winterfell, your goddamn supper is served. You owe Catelyn Stark, who only did one wrong thing in her entire life, an apology.

Anyways, Bran asks about word from King’s Landing. It’s from Alyn, Winterfell’s new Captain of the Guard. Jory Cassel, Wyl and Heward are now dead. Bran can’t believe it. They killed Jory? Why would anyone kill Jory? Robb doesn’t know, but there’s worse news. 

Ned Stark had a horse fall on him, and his leg was shattered. He’s currently unconscious. But Robb won’t let this outrage be forgotten. Maybe he should call the banners. Theon reins up next the boys. Blood for blood. Theon wasn’t smiling now. But Bran reminds Theon that Robb can’t call the banners as he’s not the Lord of Winterfell. Theon, who is BTW a real jerk throughout this entire chapter, tells Bran that if Ned dies, Robb becomes lord.

He won’t die, Bran screams at Theon.

Robb assures Bran that Ned won’t die, because of course he does. But Robb still has care of the North while his father is in King’s Landing. Bran wishes Catelyn was back home and looks around for Luwin. Does Maester Luwin say to call the banners too?

Theon, again being a real jerk, says that Luwin is cowardly, but Bran challenges Theon that Ned always listened to Luwin. Robb jumps in and says that he listens to Luwin. He listens to everyone. But now Bran is sad. He’d once thought Robb calling the banners would be baller, but now it only fills him with dread. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah. Premonition much, kid?

Bran asks to go back, but Robb says they need to find the wolves before they head back. Bran’s tired but determine to act mangrown. He tells Robb that he can go as long as he can. So, Robb says they’ll track the direwolves down while Theon drops back to jape with the Winterfell guard.

Bran begins enjoying the ride again as Theon and the guard fade behind him and Robb until he hears the sound of water. He cries. Robb asks why. It’s because Jory brought the boys here to fish back in the day. Robb remembers that moment, and Bran remembers that he didn’t catch anything. But Jon did. And he gave his fish to Bran. BTW, are we ever going to see Jon again? Sure, we’ll see Jon, Robb replies. Just like we saw Benjen when he visited for the feast. Yeesh.

Robb dismounts and leads Bran and the horses across the stream. On the other side, though, Bran hears the wolves howl. Robb states that the wolves made a kill, and he’s going to go off and bring them back. He’ll leave Bran here alone where there’s absolutely no danger nearby. Bran wants to go with Robb, but Robb says he’ll be faster on his own, and you just stay here in this perfectly safe location where wildlings and Night’s Watch deserters are definitely no lurking about.

Robb races off and leaves Bran back at the stream. The snowfall picks up around Bran and starts blanketing the ground around him. Bran is conscious of his disability though. He can’t feel his legs, but the strap around his chest was chafing him, and the melting snow was cold, wet and not particularly pleasant. He wonders where the fuck everyone is.

And then ragged men and women emerge from the brush around him, because this ASOIAF, and we cannot have a nice ride in the woods. Bran calls out a greeting, but he knows these dudes and dudettes are not simple farmers or really from around here. He’s suddenly aware of how richly dressed he is vs how these people appear. 

The largest dude: a big, bald guy asks Bran if he’s alone and wonders if he’s lost in the wolfswood. Bran doesn’t like the tone of this guy, tells him that he’s not lost. But then there’s two people behind him. He warns that his brother rode off just a moment ago and this guard will be by shortly. The ragged men are skeptical of his guard, but they like Bran’s silver pin attached to his cloak. A woman, who is Osha, leans against her long spear and thinks the pin is pretty. 

The big man, with filthy, rotting clothes goes in for a “look.” Bran notices that one of the ragged men has black, tattered rags from the Night’s Watch and pinpoints him as a deserter, remembering his father’s words that the deserter knows his life is forfeit if he is taken, so he will not flinch from any crime, no matter how vile or cruel.

The men demands the pin and Bran’s horse. A short woman with blond hair tells Bran to get down from the horse. He can’t, Bran tells them. You can and will if you know what’s good for you. Osha points out the way that Bran is strapped to the horse and says maybe he’s telling the truth. Is Bran a cripple? They wonder. 

Well, yes. But Bran simply states that he’s Brandon Stark of Winterfell, and that they’d better buzz off or he’s see them dead. Gotta give it to Bran’s courage here. Love it! The wildlings talk about how Bran is bold enough to be a Stark given his threats when others would beg. The short woman says to cut Bran’s junk off and stuff it in his mouth. But Osha says that Bran would be valuable as a hostage. Mance Rayder would pay good money to have Benjen Stark’s nephew for a hostage. 

Yeah, no, the big man says. Fuck that shit. He ain’t going back to the Wall. The White Walkers won’t give a fuck if you have a hostage. He turns back to Bran and cuts the straps around his leg, and of course, because this is ASOIAF, the cut is clumsy and the blade cuts Bran’s leg. But Bran doesn’t feel anything given that he’s paralyzed.

And then Robb is there. Mounted, sword in hand, Robb tells them to surrender and they’d have a quick and painless death. Bran desperately looks to Robb as his last hope. But the 6 people there don’t put much stock in him. Just y’know surrender your horse and the deer, and you’ll be on your way. It’s 6 against 1 buddy.

But then Robb Stark whistles and the direwolves emerge from the brush growling. 6 against 3. Though the bald dude is all “It’s only dogs”, there’s like freaking blood dripping from Grey Wind’s muzzle. But the dude orders the people in his party to take the direwolves and Robb prisoner. And Robb charges.

Winterfell, he shouts, charging into the mix of them. Robb’s sword takes a dude with an axe. Another guy grabs the reins of Robb’s horse, but Grey Wind jumps him and pulls him down to the stream. The water goes red. Robb and Osha fight, but then Robb turns her final spear thrust and runs her down with his horse. Meanwhile, Summer takes Hali in the calf and then tears out her stomach. The sixth guy tries to run away, but Grey Wind emerges from the stream, catches him and takes out his throat.

And finally, it’s only Bran and the big, bald man Stiv. He holds a throat to Bran’s throat, threatening to slice. And if Robb doesn’t call his direwolves off, he’ll slice. Robb calls the direwolves to him as Osha rises. Stiv orders Osha to kill the direwolves, but Osha ain’t about to do that. She tells him to kill the direwolves himself. 

Stiv is at a total loss. Finally, he asks for Robb’s name. And tells Robb that if he wants to see Bran alive, get off your horse. Robb reluctantly complies. And then Stiv orders Robb to kill the wolves. Robb doesn’t move. Stiv threatens The wolves or the boy. No! Bran screams. Stiv yanks Bran’s hair back telling Bran to shut up when an arrow explodes out of his chest. 

The dagger falls away, and Stiv falls to the ground and into the stream, blood flowing from his body. Osha cries out for mercy. And then the Winterfell guard appears. Luwin asks if Bran is hurt. Bran tells Luwin that his leg is cut, and Luwin checks the wound. Bran turns his head and sees Theon smiling with a half dozen arrows on the ground. 

A dead enemy is a thing of beauty, Theon says like a big jerk.

Robb tells Theon that he’s an ass and that he ought to chain Theon to the Winterfell yard and let Bran shoot arrows at him. When Theon arrogantly says that Robb should thank him, Robb tells Theon that he’s an idiot. And that if he missed his shot or had only wounded Stiv or had hit Bran or if the dude was wearing a breastplate. Did you think of any of that, you big jerk? 

Theon stops smiling, pulls his arrows up while Robb glares at the Winterfell guard:

Where were you?

Uh, they were following, but then they were waiting for Luwin and then … Theon pipes up. He spotted a turkey and figured Robb would look after Bran. Robb’s angry but looks back to Luwin asking after Bran’s injury. Just a flesh wound.

Robb looks over the bodies, sees that two of them are Night’s Watch deserters -- probably desperate ones at that. Robb orders the heads of two Night’s Watchmen hacked off and sent back to the Wall. When Quent, a Winterfell guard, asks what to do about Osha, Robb walks over to her, and she again asks for mercy and that she’d be his man. What would I do with an oathbreaker?

Osha broke no oaths. She’s a woman after all. The NW doesn’t take women on. Theon says they should give Osha to the wolves, because, did I mention that he’s a big jerk who is urging Robb to murder this woman? When Robb protests that she’s a woman, Bran says that she’s a wildling woman who wanted to give Bran to Mance Rayder. 

Robb’s unsure really what to do until Maester Luwin presents an option: We might do well to question her. This relieves Robb’s dilemma, and he orders her bound and brought back to Winterfell to be questions

And live or die by the truths she gives us.

And that is AGOT, Bran V! Gotta admit: it’s not my favorite Bran chapter. It’d probably rank among my least favorite Bran chapters in ASOIAF, but it’s not a bad chapter by any stretch! What did you think, Emmett?

Depth

We’ve gushed at length over every Bran chapter to date, along with our guests LML for Bran III and Manu for Bran IV, and for good reason--they’re all masterpieces. As such, I’ve been asking myself why it is that going into this reread, I ranked Bran toward the middle of the pack in terms of this book’s POVs. Why not as high as Dany or Sansa or Catelyn, given all the iconic scenes we’ve seen through Bran’s eyes so far?

I think it’s because after being *the* defining location of AGOT’s first act, Winterfell abruptly recedes into the background relative to King’s Landing, the Vale, and eventually the Riverlands. All the buildup about the castle, the flying dream, and the Others will gradually pay off over the course of the series, but Bran’s arc within this book kinda peters out. He serves as our eyes on Robb’s fitful evolution over this chapter and his next one, but their mom Catelyn quickly takes over that role once she leaves the Vale, and Bran gets arguably the least satisfying closing chapter of any POV in the book. For all the vivid imagery in his chapters, a lot of his arc is being kept on ice (to to speak) for now. Just wait til Jojen Reed shows up…

Hard to believe we only have two more Bran chapters left in AGOT! But yes, absolutely on this chapter being more a “Oh, BTW, Winterfell is here too” thing. That said, I think this chapter works to show us that there are things occurring in the narrative that aren’t King’s Landing conspiring or the foundational work for the War of the Five Kings in the Vale and Riverlands. That great action set piece that closes Bran V out is GRRM saying “Hey, you. Yes. YOU. In the corner, eating the cheetos. King’s Landing is important. The Vale is important, but never forget that Mance Rayder is on the move in the North. Oh, and remember the Prologue and the White Walkers? I’m dropping a reference to them here. Monsters in the margins, yes, but they’re coming.”

Having said that, while Bran V doesn’t feature anything you might wanna get tattooed on you like his earlier ones, it’s still another beautifully written chapter from our tiny hippie messiah. It tells a self-contained little story of Bran’s hopeful day out turning all sad before suddenly getting much, much worse, while also updating us on what Robb (and Theon) thinks of everything that’s going on to the south. And we meet our first wildlings, although hardly under the most friendly of circumstances.

• The day started so well, too!
  • The crisp autumn air of his first chapter has turned into snows that hint at winter as the chapter starts, but they’re gentle…
    • A light snow was falling. Bran could feel the flakes on his face, melting as they touched his skin like the gentlest of rains. 
  • ...and despite his fears…
    • He sat straight atop his horse, watching as the iron portcullis was winched upward. Try as he might to keep calm, his heart was fluttering in his chest. 
  • ...he quickly enjoys himself
    • With his legs unable to grip, the swaying motion of the horse made Bran feel unsteady at first, but the huge saddle with its thick horn and high back cradled him comfortingly, and the straps around his chest and thighs would not allow him to fall. After a time the rhythm began to feel almost natural. His anxiety faded, and a tremulous smile crept across his face. 
  • Bran is making good on the lesson his father taught him about fear and courage:
    • "Are you ready?" Robb asked.
      
      Bran nodded, trying not to let his fear show. He had not been outside Winterfell since his fall, but he was determined to ride out as proud as any knight.
  • And he’s able to do so due to the generosity of Tyrion, now his mother’s captive
  • This chapter’s foundation has rotted even as the fruit sprouts, because as the chapter goes on, Bran will be told that the Starks and Lannisters are on the verge of outright war and that his father’s life may be claimed in the process
  • Yet this boon remains, a parallel irony to how Robert’s vengeful strike at Daenerys outlasts him
• The boys are back in town
  • Coming right after Daenerys IV, the winter town is an obvious parallel to Vaes Dothrak, Bran as the ice to Dany’s fire:
    • Beyond the castle lay the market square, its wooden stalls deserted now. They rode down the muddy streets of the village, past rows of small neat houses of log and undressed stone. Less than one in five were occupied, thin tendrils of woodsmoke curling up from their chimneys. The rest would fill up one by one as it grew colder. When the snow fell and the ice winds howled down out of the north, Old Nan said, farmers left their frozen fields and distant holdfasts, loaded up their wagons, and then the winter town came alive. Bran had never seen it happen, but Maester Luwin said the day was looming closer. The end of the long summer was near at hand. Winter is coming. 
  • A reminder of the central role Winterfell and the Starks play in the intertwined social-magical structure of life in the North
  • We’ve shifted from the apocalyptic climate threat established in Bran III and IV to the response to it from his ancestors 
  • The politics embodied by the winter town go a long way to explaining why Ned’s vassals fight so hard to restore the Starks in ADWD
• How much can/should Bran know?
  • This is a recurring question throughout his story, from Ned and the execution to Bloodraven and the Children
  • Here, as it will later, it first specifically relates to sex; as you noted, Theon starts talking about Kyra and Robb cuts him off
  • Then Robb explicitly invokes the age gap:
    • “I never know how much to tell you, Bran. I wish you were older.”
  • His reveal RE King’s Landing (“dark wings, dark words”) dries up the joy from Bran’s day out and ties into the themes of maturity and loss of innocence
  • This applies to both of them--Bran gets a flash of childhood joy back, but it doesn’t last
  • Meanwhile, Robb is on the precipice between childhood and adulthood
  • The loss of Jory is specifically framed as emblematic of their loss of family and youth: 
    • “I was just remembering,” he said. “Jory brought us here once, to fish for trout. You and me and Jon. Do you remember?”
      
      “I remember,” Robb said, his voice quiet and sad.
• Stranger danger
  • The chapter takes an abrupt turn when Stiv’s crew shows up, because GRRM has avoided all foreshadowing (unlike the attacks by the clansmen or Jaime) 
  • Also unlike those previous skirmishes, our POV is a defenseless child, so this scene has stranger danger written all over it--feels almost like a 80s/90s PSA
  • That same escalation from unease and self-consciousness to blustery assertions of will to outright threats and terror--you’ll know it if you’ve ever been mugged
  • Robb is the big brother taking on the bully, with...let’s say mixed results
  • After all, what does link this showdown to the previous combat scenes in AGOT is the undercurrent of class dynamics
  • Bran is immediately aware that the danger is enhanced because of his signifiers of wealth and elite status:
    • One look, and Bran knew they were neither foresters nor farmers. He was suddenly conscious of how richly he was dressed. His surcoat was new, dark grey wool with silver buttons, and a heavy silver pin fastened his fur-trimmed cloak at the shoulders. His boots and gloves were lined with fur as well. 
  • This is a direct contrast to how they were treated in the winter town--suddenly, Bran’s status makes him a target, rather than lending him authority
  • Yet Bran can only rely on his class signifiers to defend him, first literally…
    • Bran did not like the way the strangers were looking at him. He counted four, but when he turned his head, he saw two others behind him. "My brother rode off just a moment ago, and my guard will be here shortly."
      
      "Your guard, is it?" a second man said. Grey stubble covered his gaunt face. "And what would they be guarding, my little lord? Is that a silver pin I see there on your cloak?"
  • ...and then metaphorically
    • “You some kind of cripple?” asked the short woman.

Bran flared. “I’m Brandon Stark of Winterfell, and you better let go of my horse, or I’ll see you all dead.”

• And of course, Bran’s blood is what makes him a potentially useful hostage
• The commentary continues with Robb:
  • “Put down your steel now, and I promise you shall have a quick and painless death,” Robb called out.
• That’s a classic fantasy-badass thing to say, but it’s immediately undercut:
  • The strength of the words were undercut by the way his voice cracked with strain.
• Again, Robb is only just leaving childhood, and shouts “Winterfell!” just like Arya will in the Riverlands when fighting Amory Lorch’s men
• We can applaud Robb for his heroism while also recognizing what a foolish thing this is to say. Why on earth would they surrender if all they’re going to get is death? Why not offer them the horses and try to work out a peaceable solution?
• Robb does win us back with his mercy for Osha, though

Likes/Dislikes

Like: I reaaaaaaaaaaallly like how in this Bran chapter does a new version of Are they ever coming back? In the form of Will we ever see Jon again? In Bran IV, it was the question of whether Catelyn and Jon would return with Robb hopeful and telling Bran that they’d ride out to meet Catelyn and then head up to the Wall for an adventure. Here, Robb tries to reassure Bran that they saw Uncle Benjen at the feast. Man, is that sad. Especially on re-read, right? It’s sad, because Benjen is still missing as of book 5, and Jon has never returned back to Winterfell. But in Jon’s final ADWD chapter, after declaring that he’ll march on Ramsay, what does Jon think? He thought of Robb, with snowflakes melting in his hair. Kill the boy and let the man be born. He thought of Bran, clambering up a tower wall, agile as a monkey. Damn, that makes me sad. Nicely-done, GRRM.

Dislike: If you remember all the way back to Episode 2 to our first Bran chapter, I said my dislike for that chapter was that the friendship between Robb and Theon was a tell, not show thing and that I’d keep an eye out for other examples of this. Well, here we are again, friends. Another iteration of Robb/Theon’s tell-not-show friendship. There’s not really much in the way of congeniality between the two. Even the one moment where Theon is talking about banging Kyrie, Robb’s all, rightfully I might add, like dude, shut up. You’re around a 7-year old. And then at the end of the chapter, Robb is threatening to chain Theon to the wall and have Bran shoot arrows at him for his stupidity. All of these reactions by Robb are incredible understandable and believable! But what becomes less believable is that the story wants us to believe that Robb and Theon are best friends - all in service of twisting the knife in the Starks’ back when Theon betrays them in ACOK, which BTW is a great twist - without doing the necessary Brutus-Julius Caesar character work from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in showing Robb and Theon’s friendship in action.

Like: As per usual with Bran’s chapters, we get some gorgeous nature imagery here:

He knew this wood, but he had been so long confined to Winterfell that he felt as though he were seeing it for the first time. The smells filled his nostrils; the sharp fresh tang of pine needles, the earthy odor of wet rotting leaves, the hints of animal musk and distant cooking fires. He caught a glimpse of a black squirrel moving through the snow-covered branches of an oak, and paused to study the silvery web of an empress spider. 

You can imagine the camera focus racking from his smile to the spiderweb as he looks at it. The magic Bran will learn and the religious powers he encounters are rooted in nature, so this keeps us grounded in his messianic arc, and fits the mood of rebirth and restoration we see jostling with dread and danger in Bran V.

Dislike: Osha gets some inconsistent characterization in that she urges Stiv to take Bran to Mance in this chapter, but in Bran’s next chapter, she dismisses Mance as a “brave sweet stubborn man” who will never be able to fend off the white walkers on his own (as we see he’s learned in ASOS). After all, she says the latter is why she went on the run with an asshole like Stiv. Was she just trying to save Bran’s life? But then what if Stiv accepted her plan?

Foreshadowing/Groundwork

This ain’t the last hunt Theon will undertake in the Winterfell area...but next time, he’ll be hunting our boy Bran and the rest of his companions. The most dangerous game, amirite?

Speaking of Theon, his relationship with Kyra will also turn from their flirty exchange in this chapter into something much, much darker--he’ll summon her as a conquest to Ned Stark’s bed after he takes Winterfell in ACOK before raping her, and then things get even worse at the Dreadfort. 

“I listen to him,” Robb insisted. “I listen to everyone.”

We’ll see Robb build on this when he listens to each lord in turn as he marches south.

The man's clothes were filthy, fallen almost to pieces, patched here with brown and here with blue and there with a dark green, and faded everywhere to grey, but once that cloak might have been black.

And then Mance in ASOS:

"I did. I do. That's closer to the mark, yes. But not a hit." Mance Rayder rose, unfastened the clasp that held his cloak, and swept it over the bench. "It was for this."

"A cloak?"

"The black wool cloak of a Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch," said the King-beyond-the-Wall. "One day on a ranging we brought down a fine big elk. We were skinning it when the smell of blood drew a shadow-cat out of its lair. I drove it off, but not before it shredded my cloak to ribbons. Do you see? Here, here, and here?" He chuckled. "It shredded my arm and back as well, and I bled worse than the elk. My brothers feared I might die before they got me back to Maester Mullin at the Shadow Tower, so they carried me to a wildling village where we knew an old wisewoman did some healing. She was dead, as it happened, but her daughter saw to me. Cleaned my wounds, sewed me up, and fed me porridge and potions until I was strong enough to ride again. And she sewed up the rents in my cloak as well, with some scarlet silk from Asshai that her grandmother had pulled from the wreck of a cog washed up on the Frozen Shore. It was the greatest treasure she had, and her gift to me." He swept the cloak back over his shoulders. "But at the Shadow Tower, I was given a new wool cloak from stores, black and black, and trimmed with black, to go with my black breeches and black boots, my black doublet and black mail. The new cloak had no frays nor rips nor tears . . . and most of all, no red. The men of the Night's Watch dressed in black, Ser Denys Mallister reminded me sternly, as if I had forgotten. My old cloak was fit for burning now, he said.

"I left the next morning . . . for a place where a kiss was not a crime, and a man could wear any cloak he chose."

Theory Discussion

So just as we speculated last week about what’s gonna go down at Vaes Dothrak, this week we’re gonna speculate about the winter town. Will it play a role? Will civilians be gathered there? Will they eat each other alive? (Yes.) 

Along with Stark restoration comes civilians wanting food and protection, especially as the Others approach; Sansa’s army will presumably come with plenty of tag-alongs

This will perhaps be the payoff to Catelyn considering the people Edmure is shielding to be useless mouths, or Dany closing her gates to her people in Slaver’s Bay. How are our heroes going to navigate this ethical quagmire?

It’s...probably not going to end well. ADWD is chock-full o’ cannibalism, especially in the North: Frey Pies, Jojenpaste, Hardhome, the Peasebury men, the fate of the NW deserters, the invocation of Skagos...it’s a motif. Presumably that’s only going to get worse. Moreover, that would dovetail perfectly with Stannis’ story if he’s still hanging around the area, because they came very close to cannibalism at Storm’s End during the siege.

So while the winter town is a symbol of political strength in this chapter, it might not end up that way in the larger narrative of ASOIAF. 

Conclusion

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