10/07/15 - Chapter 8: Tyrion II

[Clara]

I'll create the topic of today, but I'll comment on it tomorrow. And hopefully I'll catch up on Friday!

[Vicki]

1. I wonder what it sounds like to laugh like a man chopping meat.

2. Tyrion is getting Janos Slynt drunk for the classic investigation move. Lord Janos sure likes wine!

3. Rich! Lord Janos certainly likes that word!

4. Not sure if Lord Janos got to choose which castle to take, but he doesn't seem concerned that Harrenhal is said to be cursed.

5. Ha! Tyrion's been looking in to see who's taken Janos Slynt's place as Lord Commander of the City Watch. His name is Allar Deem. Janos thinks he's a good man, therefore he must be trash. I wonder if that's the man who was humiliated by Yoren?

6. Tyrion questions him as to why not Ser Jacelyn Bywater, a good loyal man in service for three years, knighted by Robert after the Greyjoy rebellion, and Janos says he's too rigid, and a cripple besides. Oh dear, guess he didn't know Tyrion has a soft spot for cripples and bastards! He says Allar Deem is feared in the city; fear is good, according to Janos Slynt.

7. Apparently Allar Deem was sent to the brothel to kill a baby. Slynt says it's not his fault the mother got in the way. Oh gods... :( Slynt says it takes a certain man to do that job and Deem's just the man to do it. He makes it seem like it's not a big deal, since the woman was only a whore, and we are getting the distinct suspicion this is that whore who was in love with RObert and had one of his bastard daughters.

8. Ha! Tyrion brings up Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander up on the Wall. He says he's been also looking for good men in his Watch. "The Watch gets so few good men these days." Sounds like a threat! No one wants to join the Night's Watch, however. Kingsguard and City Watch are good, but not the black. That's like prison camp for all eternity. "He'd sleep easier if he had a man like you, I imagine. Or the valiant Allar Deem." Ha! I really don't think Jeor would, but I get the point!

9. This makes Janos roar in defiance. So Tyrion says Eddard Stark probably didn't expect he'd end up dying in front of Baelor's Sept. And OMG! Janos laughs at that! What a prick... Tyrion says even Varys was surprised. I don't think much surprises that man, so that's saying something. Slynt thinks that's funny too.

10. It seems Janos Slynt didn't know about the agreement that Ned Stark was supposed to be pardoned so he can take the black. Janos says the king commanded it, and I like that Tyrion reminds him he's only 13, but I guess that means nothing to Slynt. "The Lord of the Seven Kingdoms." Tyrion reminds him more like 1 or 2 kingdoms anyway. Ha!

11. Now Tyrion "admires" Slynt's spear sigil and questions if he was the one who stabbed Ned Stark in the back or did he command someone else to do it. Of course he commanded someone else. The vermin couldn't even do it himself. He defends himself, saying Ned Stark was a traitor and he tried to buy him, lol! Tyrion hits the nail on the head -- he was already bought. Ha! "A lordship and a castle for a spear thrust in the back, and you didn't even need to thrust the spear."

12. Janos is angry now, calling him Imp and dwarf. Oh ho! Now Tyrion is angry, saying he should've stopped at Imp. He tells him he should be thanking the gods it was Tyrion he's talking to and not Tywin Lannister. That gets through to him.

13. Slynt is fearful now, for his four children, for pissing off Tywin Lannister. Luckily Tyrion is compassionate and swears his children will not be harmed. I've noticed Slynt has reverted back to using "m'lord" instead of "my lord." Tyrion says if his eldest son squires well he can be knighted one day and inherit a castle but it will not be Harrenhal. Janos, however, is to join the Night's Watch tomorrow morning. He tells him that when he sees Jeor Mormont to tell him that Tyrion did not forget the needs of the Night's Watch. Initially I felt good knowing Tyrion just put Janos Slynt in his place, but another part of me thinks that Tyrion still doesn't take the Night's Watch seriously. I mean, he's giving them more criminals! He thinks of them as a convenient prison camp, still, conveniently far away from the capital. Ugh, the Night's Watch needs good men!

14. Wow! Once Janos realizes he's not going to be executed he starts calling him dwarf again. Wtf... He boasts he has lots of friends at court who will stop this from happening. Psh...they're all using you, will throw you under the bus whenever it suits them. Joffrey obviously doesn't seem impressed by Slynt, calling his son an "upjumped oaf." But when he tries to leave, he sees Ser Jacelyn Bywater in gold cloaks with six others behind him, come to arrest him, ha! And what's more, Tyrion commands Ser Jacelyn to round up the six men Lord Slynt wanted as part of the City Watch, including Allar Deem. :) They will also be joining the black. Omg...Tyrion on a side note says to tell the captain of the boat to throw Deem into the sea where storms are the worst. That's a little too much, if you asked me.

15. Now Varys arrives once everyone except Tyrion exits the hall. Of course, lol. He probably heard it all. He applauds Tyrion for how he handled Slynt, but Tyrion says he half wanted to throw Varys in the sea too. Wtf?

16. Tyrion figures out it was Cersei who had sent Slynt and his men to murder the poor bastard babe in the brothel, and Varys knew, but he didn't say anything. Yes, to know but to do nothing also makes you at fault, in my opinion. Tyrion is angry with Cersei and Varys, but he can't touch her yet. It bothers him that he can punish Slynt and Deem but not Cersei, she gets to go about her business unscathed when she is ultimately at fault. Ugh. I hate her.

17. Ha, Tyrion tells Varys to tell him everything he knows for now on, but Varys says that will take a long time then, because he knows a lot.

18. Ah, so it was Varys who made sure Gendry safely got away. He was too busy doing that to save the infant girl. :( Why does Cersei want all of Robert's bastards dead now? Even when the world finds out about her children, that still won't give the bastards any right to the throne. They are no threat. Apparently Varys didn't expect Cersei to feel threatened by a whore's daughter. Right! "She was Robert's," Tyrion said bitterly. "That was enough for Cersei, it would seem." She is horrible. I just can't stand her. You will do everything it takes to protect your own children but you freely murder other people's children for pleasure. That is sick.

19. Interesting Tyrion imagined the whore looking a lot like Shae and Tysha. He wonders if a whore can ever truly love someone, but doesn't want to know. Poor Tyrion is still messed up about his past.

20. Interesting that Tyrion gave Shae that nice house with lots of jewelry and a bird and everything nice but she still wanted to "serve" and "help" him, whatever that means. He tells her she helps him most here, when they're fucking. Wtf... She didn't want to hear that. I think she is so used to being a whore that sitting around doing nothing is driving her crazy, lol.

21. So it seems Cersei was telling the truth about Ned Stark's death being unplanned. But Janos and Ser Ilyn did it without question and so swiftly that it seems planned between Joffrey and the two.

22. Apparently Varys recommended Ser Jacelyn Bywater, hmm... and Tyrion is not threatened by Cersei's Lannister guards, since he's also a Lannister and sent by his father. They won't dare harm him, hmm! Though varys has been very helpful, Tyrion still doesn't trust him. Varys swears he only serves the realm, the king -- of which he never specifically says which one! -- and Tyrion.

23. Varys brings up the riddle agin, and Tyrion says what I said earlier -- a riddle with no answers. It all depends on the sellsword. Very true, what Varys says: "...yet if it is the swordsmen who rule us in truth, why do we pretend our kings hold the power? Why should a strong man with a sword ever obey a child king like Joffrey, or a wine-sodden oaf like his father?" Why do any of them obey one man? Very intriguing question; who truly killed Eddard Stark? Joffrey, who gave the command, Ser Ilyn who swung the sword, "or...another?" Wtf? Who else? This gives even Tyrion a headache, lol.

24. Varys says power resides where men believe it resides, that's all. Hmm... Power is a mummers trick. A shadow on the wall. "Yet shadows can kill." Varys knows!!! "And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow." Spooky!

25. LOL! "Lord Varys, I am growing strangely fond of you. I may kill you yet, but I think I'd feel sad about it." Omg, lol...

26. Tyrion talks about his issues being a dwarf, but I find this strangely compelling: "...and one day I may take a wife and sire a son. If the gods are good, he'll look like his uncle and think like his father...Dwarfs are a jape of the gods...but men make eunuchs." Tyrion was borna dwarf, but Varys wasn't born a eunuch. Their situation is a bit different. Tyrion knows what he wants, but what's Varys's motives? I like that Tyrion looks forward to having a family one day. I'd forgotten that!

27. In other news...Varys talks about a master of a king's Galley plotting to switch sides to Stannis. I had forgotten this too. Wow, and another man, Tyrion tells Varys to send him off the the Night's Watch for being bribed to rescue the Redwyn twins. They really want to leave! They should take Sansa with them, lol.

28. Also interesting is that the red comet has brought forth a lot of religious men who foretell doom and destruction in the city. Not helping the overall mood! Tyrion casts it aside saying they're soon approaching the 300th year anniversary since Aegon's Landing. Of course people are going to see signs and prophecies.

29. Ha! Tyrion wonders how Cersei will take the news of Janos Slynt's dismissal. Not happy, ha! Tyrion feels secure in King's Landing with the Gold Cloaks on his side now and his mountain men and growing sellswords, but he realizes this was how Ned Stark felt, true!

30. I like Bronn's interview assessment when recruiting sellswords, lol. Though it greatly disturbs me that Bronn said he wouldn't kill a babe in her mother's arms without question; he'd ask how much first. Ugh...that's the only part about Bronn I don't like. But I have to remember they're not friends; it's strictly business to him. He would have chosen the rich man for sure, from the riddle. So it seems Tyrion has 100 Allar Deems in his service! What's it say about Tyrion to have Allar Deem thrown out to sea to die but he keeps 100 men like him all around for protection? Bit of a hypocrite.

[Clara]

About your point 5, it's a good question, I didn't think if that, but it could be!

And I don't think Tyrion really cares about the Watch, but at least he is sending men. They are not the best, but the Wacth is so desperate for men, they'll took anyone. Which is sad, but not a lot of people want to join, not even good men.

1-Tyrion wants to make Janos Slynt drunk, and it sounds like it's not that hard.

2-Since Janos is Lord of Harrenhal now, they are talking about who should take his place as Commander of the City Watch. Slynt suggested Allar Deem, and to be honest I didn't remember much about the man, but I knew I wouldn't like him if Janos liked him that much. Tyrion is thinking in Ser Jacelyn Bywater, who seems to have honor, but Slynt thinks he's not the right man to do it. He has little honor, so I can see why.

3-He told Tyrion this Allar Deem is feared in the streets, which is better than being loved. And I disagree with that. People are more willing to fight and even die for someone they love over someone they fear.

4-What Deem did was plain horrible, killing a baby, and the mother, who was trying to save the child. Because she was a bastard. We know from Arya's chapter Cersei is trying to murder Robert's bastards, which is awful. At this point I think Tyrion is trying to confirmate his sister is the one who gave the order, he knows her pretty well and knows about her bastards.

5-It was not a subtle thing talking about how the Watch would welcome people like Slynt and Deem, and I think Janos didn't catch it the first time. Also, I forgot he is sent to the Wall so early in the book.

6-I found myself surprised at how I didn't think before Varys was susprised about Ned's death. I never thought he knew, but I also never thought he was surprised like everybody. Of course Janos thinks it's funny.

7-He tells Tyrion Varys help persuade Cersei about sending Ned to the Wall, I wonder why.

8-Tyrion asked him if he gave the command or drive the spear into Ned's back, and it surprised me Janos got upset about it. I mean, it's not like he loved Ned or had no part in it at all. So, he stops calling Tyrion by his name, and starts calling him Imp. While reading the chapter I had the overall idea Janos didn't think of Tyrion as a threat, until he saw he could do a lot.

9-Tyrion asked him how many sons Janos had, and even if I don't like the man at all, I'm glad he cared about his children. Tyrion told him his oldest son would have his title and some lands, not Harrenhal. Maybe Tywin told him to take Janos's titles and lands away? I remember he was not happy about him being a lord. He is sending Janos to the Wall, and asked him to tell Jeor he hasn't forgotten about the Watch needs. Lol.

10-Ser Bywater is the new Commander of the City Watch, and to be honest I don't recall a lot about the man, but I like him more than Janos. So he enters the room and takes Janos away, and recieves a list of names, of 6 men who should go to the Wall as well. Slynt's favourites I guess.

11-I was surprised Tyrion basically ordered Deem's death. He wasn't happy about it, but he did it anyway. So, this was Tyrion and Varys's plan. Everytime Varys does something I wonder why he does it.

12-Varys also knew Cersei was the one who ordered the bastard's death. He knows a lot of things, but acts in few., the one he chooses to. Tyrion tells Varys from now on, he will tell Tyrion everything. Varys replied it might take a while. I can't imagine how much he knows. And I wonder what does he gives to his little birds, what do they get in exchange for secrets.

13-A very interesting think Varys said was he couldn't save the baby, but did took a boy away from danger. And I thought about Gendry.

14-Tyrion has Shae in a mansion, with servants, guards and all the stuff she needs. Shae told Tyrion she wanted to be with him more, to serve him and help him. When he responded he only need her in bed, he could tell she was upset. And I wonder why, she is a whore and they both know she's there for the money. Maybe she wanted to be a lady? I don't know.

15-Varys suggested Slynt and Payne knew about Ned's fate, but Tyrion said they have thought so, and got no profit. I forgot about this.

16-Varys recommended Ser Bywater to Tyrion. Again, he is serving the realm. I also noticed at some point Varys said "our realm". So, maybe he sees Westeros as his home?

17-He answered the riddle he told Tyrion in a previous chapter, and I loved every part of it. Steel is power, so the man with the steel will decide. So why does he obey, if he has the power? I loved the answer: Power resides where men think it resides. I don't know what Varys realy wants, but I love his character so much. And I think he is one of the most powerful characters in the books, he knows a lot, and can do a lot with it. Or do nothing at all.

18-I believe at some point Varys tells the story of how he got cut (I have a memory of him telling Ned in the TV show, but maybe I'm wrong), but when Tyrion asked him, he didn't answer. He does not want to talk about it.

19-A lot of captains are planning to take their ships to Stannis, and Varys thinks they should take one to trial to show the others what would happen. So it seems for now he is helping the Lannisters. Or at least it looks like it.

20-They found the Redwyne brothers disguised as oarsmen trying to scape. Tywion orders to bring them back, and sent the bribed man to the Watch. He cares about the Watch a little bit it seems.

21-Holy men are gathering in the city, because of the comet thinks Varys. Tyrion thinks it's because almost 300 years past since Aegon's Landing. They are spreading fear, which is never a good thing.

22-I really like Bronn, but I tend to forget how he really is. Tyrion asked him if he would kill a baby without question, and he answered he would ask how much. I think it wasn't the answer Tyrion wanted, but it was the one he expected to hear. Bronn is also hiring men, Tyrion is really scared he might die, like Ned did. He thought he was safe as well.