#anti rodrik cassel

[maid-with-sunset-in-her-hair]

Another thing that Theon and Sansa have in common is that their captors feel entitled to their undying loyalty because they deluded themselves about the reality of their hostages’ situation:

"Ser Rodrik." Theon reined to a halt. "It grieves me that we must meet as foes."

"My own grief is that I must wait a while to hang you." The old knight spat onto the muddy ground. "Theon Turncloak."

"I am a Greyjoy of Pyke," Theon reminded him. "The cloak my father swaddled me in bore a kraken, not a direwolf."

"For ten years you have been a ward of Stark."

"Hostage and prisoner, I call it."

"Then perhaps Lord Eddard should have kept you chained to a dungeon wall. Instead he raised you among his own sons, the sweet boys you have butchered, and to my undying shame I trained you in the arts of war. Would that I had thrust a sword through your belly instead of placing one in your hand." (ACOK Theon VII)

Rodrik thinks that Theon is a traitor for turning against the Starks and a despreciable coward for using a child hostage as a shield to stop him, but refuses to apply the same standards to Ned. Is easier for him to lie to himself about Theon being a hostage than to face the truth. Soon after this conversation Rodrik is killed by Ramsay Snow, an actual traitor and turncloak, who literally cuts his hand off. The author sure loves irony:

"Aye, but he thought us friends. A common mistake. When the old fool gave me his hand, I took half his arm instead. Then I let him see my face." (ACOK Theon VII)

The interesting thing is that Rodrik attempt to gaslight Theon about his own situation is very similar to Cersei's rant about Sansa's ungratefulness:

The queen bristled. "I most certainly have not forgotten that little she-wolf." She refused to say the girl's name. "I ought to have shown her to the black cells as the daughter of a traitor, but instead I made her part of mine own household. She shared my hearth and hall, played with my own children. I fed her, dressed her, tried to make her a little less ignorant about the world, and how did she repay me for my kindness? She helped murder my son. When we find the Imp, we will find the Lady Sansa too. She is not dead... but before I am done with her, I promise you, she will be singing to the Stranger, begging for his kiss." (AFFC Cersei IV)

So it wouldn't surprise me if Cersei’s death is foreshadowed in this passage, maybe her own ignorance about the world causes her doom or maybe she'll be the one begging for death instead, only time will say.

(By the way, Cersei is being an unreliable narrator here, is stated in Sansa's chapters that she outgrew her clothes at some point after her father’s death, but she didn't get anything new to wear until her wedding dress. So no, Cersei didn't dress her.)

[avatarsymbolism]

Krakens and Dragons: Parallels and Contrasts Between Zuko and Theon Greyjoy

Warning: long post. I tried using the read more option, but that broke some of the symbols and words in the post for some reason. 

One of the most enjoyable things about reused or classic character archetypes and arcs is that you get to see see how different authors and creators use these arcs and, consequently, you get to see how these arcs get played out. Within a story, we can sometimes try to compare and contrast characters within the given narrative as well and see how they parallel or contrast with with each other. This leads to the revelation that many of our favorite storylines contain foils and purposely paralleled plots (hey, look at that alliteration!). Such plot parallels (or contrasts) include Aang and Zuko in “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and Jon Sow and Theon Greyjoy in “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

But what’s especially fun is looking at two completely unrelated series and finding two characters who are, on the one hand, so similar but, at the same time, so drastically different in how they’re handled within their two respective narratives.

Enter Theon Greyjoy, and Prince Zuko, two characters so similar that it’s impossible not to compare them. Of course, I’m far from the first to notice the similarity between them but, nonetheless, it exists.

To me, Theon is almost a cautionary tale for Zuko. What if Zuko had been more ruthless? What if Zuko never learned from his mistakes? What if Iroh had not been there to help Zuko along his path? What if Zuko received support but never listened to the consel given to him? What if Zuko was swallowed up by his desires and kept falling and falling into the grave that he himself had dug until he was no longer himself?

Both Theon and Zuko are plagued with arrogance, and a desire to return home and to win their father’s approval, albeit for different reasons.

As the last living son of the Ironborn rebel Balon Greyjoy, Theon was sent as a ward and hostage to be fostered by Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. In contrast, Zuko was a born prince who had always been scorned by his father for what he saw as weakness. At the age of 13, Zuko spoke out at a war meeting, and as a result his father burned him and banished him--hoping to never see his face again.

But, both sons eventually do come home, and we get these two really nice parallel moments:

Zuko, in B03E01 “The Awakening”:

“It's been so long, over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed.”

Theon in “A Clash of Kings”:

It is as if I were a stranger here, Theon thought. Nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed.

And when they do finally go home, both sons find that they don’t really fit in. Zuko has his birthright, but something nags at him in the back of his head, because everything feels so off, as if he’d made a wrong turn. Likewise, Theon is happy to be back home, thinking that at last he’s found the place where he belongs, a place where he can finally fit in. As mentioned in “A Clash of kings” Theon I:

Lord Eddard had raised him among his own children, but Theon had never been one of them.

Let’s take a break from Zuko’s story for now though, and focus on on Theon for a moment.

Theon returns home, and thinks he has it all. He’s to be a prince now with King Robb’s offer of letting Theon’s father become a king in his own right in his hand. But the people reject him. Even his own father and sister either seem to find him suspicious or dislike him altogether, thinking he’s found himself a little too comfortable on the mainland. To quote Balon in Theon I:

“The green lands have made you soft, and the Starks have made you theirs.”

All this does is make Theon more angry and determined to prove himself in the eyes of his family and his countrymen. The Iron Islands are, after all, his home and birthright.

So, against his own father’s orders, Theon turns his sights toward Winterfell, the seat of his foster father, and and takes it for himself, declaring it his seat. He holds Bran and Rickon hostage, but the two boys escapes along with Osha, Hodor, and the two Reed children.

Where Zuko sends Combustion Man to take care of Aang so that he can still maintain his father’s approval, Theon tries to go after Bran and Rickon himself. But, when Theon fails to find them, the man known as Reek (really Ramsay Snow, the bastard of the Dreadfort) has Theon find two other boys in their place to mount their heads on the castle walls.

Part of Theon’s motive here is the idea that he wants to be seen as a fair and just ruler, while at the same time being harsh when he has to. As he tells Asha when she comes to see him, he supposedly killed Bran and Rickon because they defied him.

Furthermore, in contrast to Zuko’s learning that mercy is neither stupid nor childish, Theon has this to say about mercy in Theon IV:

Mercy, thought Theon as Luwin dropped back. There's a bloody trap. Too much and they call you weak, too little and you're monstrous.

Eventually, everything seems as it should be for Theon--but why does he feel so empty? And why does he still feel like so much of a stranger?

In any case, Theon continues to be proud and merciless where Zuko learns from his mistake. Zuko eventually renounces his birthright and Theon comes so, so close to doing the same and joining the Night’s Watch after all the mistakes he’s made...but Theon is not Zuko.

When Reek comes to his gates and takes Rodrik Cassel by surprise, Theon thinks himself saved. To quote from Theon VI:

I am saved, Theon thought. So why did he feel so empty? This was victory, sweet victory, the deliverance he had prayed for. He glanced at Maester Luwin. To think how close I came to yielding, and taking the black...

And again, like Zuko, Theon does not feel like this is a true victory. Something is gnawing at him, but he doesn’t know what. In any case, like Zuko, Theon gets chance after chance to redeem himself, but Theon does not learn from his mistakes and routinely squanders his--thus making himself Ramsay Snow’s prisoner.

And, while it’s easy to feel bad for Theon in “A Dance with Dragons,” he has not been redeemed the way Zuko was. But, this was never an essay about painting Theon as a redeemable anti-hero. Instead, this is the story of the fall of the Kraken Prince. A man blinded by his own arrogance and his need for approval, and without ample counsel who never heeded the warnings of those around him. This is the story of prince not so unlike the Dragon Prince from another series, who learned from his mistakes and took the guidance of his counsel to heart, and with that was able to reach his full potential.

[anon-foreverandever]

Parallels of... Stannis and Daenerys

It is very curious indeed. Many on the fandom like one over the other, and always put them in contrast, when actually...

Daenerys punishment of the masters was bad in the sense that, as plead to end the “torment” or whatever of Daenerys with the masters she said she would once she had the exact same number (and like, they rule the city, they are always taking advantages of it, now it comes the bad, and unless you betrayed the city before that, you are guilty, if for no other thing that being at the head of the system and feeding it). Uh. Many who vouch for Stannis say that she was hotheaded in this (well, I only saw one, @warsofasoiaf [but he’s quite a level-headed guy and gave reasons for why, strategically, it would be bad, and it was two years ago so maybe he changed his opinion], but surely most do, based on how fanatic fandom can be, “fanatic” being quite an appropriate adjective for it) ... but they forget that Daenerys is a teenager dealing with an extremely heinous situation, even if not all would be like that... just like Gawen Wylde might not have been bad, and was the master-at-arms, that is, surely the person who taught Stannis and Robert to wield the first sword and the legendary warhammer that Donal Noye made for them. THAT person, akin to Rodrik Cassel for the Stark children, Stannis HOTHEADEDLY decided to fling from the walls. And yes, HOTHEADEDLY, because Cressen (whether truly for the meat or to make Stannis not to cross that moral horizon) talked him out of it as they were being strapped down. You heard that right. Stannis Baratheon, the cold, proud of his honor, incensing to hotblooded Robert precisely for how “sour” he is, had this moment, when he was in a limit situation JUST AS DAENERYS. I mean, you look at those crucified children, entrails out AND POINTING, and that is a mockery so gross of life that I think Stannis would rather have sat down and send everyone who remotely has anything to do to his death. Because none of them would have died for vouching against it vehemently. But of course, slavery is, for starters, MOCKING RIGHT TO BE YOURSELF. so of course they denied any chance of that to whoever had a modicum of common sense, who anyway decided to stay and throw his fortune with these people. So yes, Stannis would have KILLED THEM ALL. “Would that all the lords of the Seven Kingdoms have but a single neck” and that is in a land that ABHORS SLAVERY (nominally at least, Tywin clearly approves, based on forced labour at Harrenhal and his visit to... Lys, but the lords of the North all supported Eddard [well, you have to know Roose is very image-building] and even Jeor speaks of it as shame, however much pains him)

That is only one. Another would be that Daenerys’ first thought about the Rebellion as shown in the books is about the “Usurper’s brother” showing that “I never wanted Dragonstone...” and all that is founded on the grievance to Robert also all the grievance of Daenerys to Robert is founded on the brother. Well well... (though this is a stretch I know, because Stannis grievance started after the war for Storm’s End and Dragonstone combined... though Storm’s End was the exact situation with contrary results. Stannis had all his men well in line except four, including Gawen. The Dragonstone garrison were all betrayers except Darry and his four men, or maybe three and so it would be exactly parallel to Stannis, and there we have it. Yes, Stannis is a royal brother and Darry was at most brother of the Kingsguard, but remember, Robert had to be hidden by whores and more people and in the Trident he was wounded, so victory was far from certain... yet Stannis held on)

What else? There is the fact that Daenerys will be forced to do exactly what Stannis had to before choosing the truly just war, the war against the Others. The War FOR the Dawn. The War for Life. Exactly like Stannis. Stannis passed that from ACOK to ASOS, Daenerys will from TWOW to ADOS. The war against an usurper who does not know that is an usurper, who has been groomed all his life that his is the throne, that the throne is waiting (and that is great part of the problem with Varys, if the throne is WAITING for him, Aegon [that is his name, even if not the family name] is going to think is his, and therefore is his RIGHT, because it IS HIS, it MUST be his) for him, and that he will do what he wants. Varys trick is that Aegon will want to do good. That is it. Aegon having an absolute power is not bad for Varys, Aegon is going to be a good person. That would be good... if Illyrio was not grooming him, slaver who takes pleasure in mocking the rules against slavery of his city’s treaty with the Anti-Slavery force of Braavos, the one who is doing something that ALL WESTEROS APPROVES OF. Pentos which is the place close to Andalos. Aegon is fed an image, but we’ll see how good that is. At least the lad is good-hearted, but all the same, his situation stinks of Joffrey, just like Daenerys’ situation of “I am the true heir and you are not my blood” stinks of the shit Stannis had to pass up to including the USURPING UNCLE/AUNT (and in both, the Usurping Uncle WAS another... but Viserys was dead and Renly was alive by the time the war erupts)

And that... Daenerys is not the Ruler but the Hero of the Story, whereas Stannis is not the Hero of the Story, but the Ruler, and when Daenerys blows up the Throne, Death of the Ruler will be a legacy just like Death of a Hero. Only Stannis will be alive to rule the Wall, but all the same, his earlier life will be at an end, including his flesh legacy, his mentally well nourished... dude so painful.

And when we’re at it, both sacrificing their children in their false but dutiful pursuit. Daenerys sacrifices her child/future ruler for the present ruler, whereas Stannis sacrifices his child/future ruler for the present threat, both fail, because Daenerys is not meant to be the Ruler, and Stannis is not meant to be the Hero and tragedy unfolds when the sacrifice is actually misery, because Sacrifice = Needful Suffering but Misery = Needless Suffering, and the tragedy is with REALIZATION. They are both prepared to do their duty to the ultimate consequences, what they are not is to bear the weight of murder upon their heads. What Daenerys has dealt will be something Stannis has to deal with in the future.

Note also the inverse order. Sacrifice - War of Usurping for Dan the Woman, War of Usurping - Sacrifice for Stan the Man

That’s all folks of my imagination, since I suppose no one will read this, no one registered on tumblr anyway. Those are SOME of their parallels, not all.

[ao3feed-tywin]

Northern Rebellion

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2CRfu3n

by NuttyPeggyStark

An alternate way of how Robert's Rebellion went down. Instead, it is known as the Northern Rebellion.

Aerys killed Benjen along with Rickard and Brandon.

Ned is much more vengeful.

Robert is not a whoremonger and has a stable, loving relationship with Lyanna. The betrothal being a delight to both of them.

Lyanna was actually kidnapped and raped against her will.

Everything is changed.

Words: 216, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: game of thrones

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: F/M

Characters: Ned Stark, Jon Arryn, Robert Baratheon, Hoster Tully, Brynden Tully, Catelyn Tully Stark, Lysa Tully Arryn, Edmure Tully, Lyanna Stark, Rickard Stark, Brandon Stark, Benjen Stark, Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, Elia Martell, Oberyn Martell, Doran Martell, Arianne Martell, Rhaegar Targaryen, Aerys II Targaryen, Rhaella Targaryen, Viserys Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen, Aegon VI Targaryen (Son of Elia), Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Mace Tyrell, Olenna Tyrell, Jaime Lannister, Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s), Robb Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark, Jon Snow | Aegon Targaryen, Robin Arryn, Yohn Royce, Maester Luwin, Jorah Mormont, Brienne of Tarth, Rodrik Cassel, Barristan Selmy, Jory Cassel, Sandor Clegane, Waymar Royce

Relationships: Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Jon Arryn/Lysa Tully Arryn, Robert Baratheon/Lyanna Stark, Lyanna Stark/Rhaegar Targaryen, Robert Baratheon/Original Female Character(s), Roslin Frey/Edmure Tully

Additional Tags: Jon Snow is a Targaryen, King Ned Stark, Queen Catelyn Stark, House Stark, House Tully, House Arryn, House Baratheon, House Targaryen, House Tyrell, House Martell, House Lannister, House Greyjoy, Anti-Targaryen, Anti-Lannister (Mostly), All my love for House Stark

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2CRfu3n