A Song of Ice and Fire - A Chapter a day discussion
This topic is about
A Clash of Kings
A Clash of Kings
>
10/23/15 - Chapter 24: Theon II
date
newest »
newest »
1. Even after a second read I am shocked that Asha doesn’t immediately come out and call Theon “brother.” I get that she wants to see what kind of man he is, but it still seems odd that she plays along for so long. Maybe it’s easier when you haven’t seen your brother in ten years, and only as a child, not an adult.2. Some ironborn women have been known to crew on deck with men and they have a man’s appetite, so I guess Theon assumes she’d be easy to pick up. Gah! She even gropes him!
3. According to her, she built Theon’s first ship, though I don’t know if this is actually true.
4. I laughed when they named his ship Sea Bitch. :) Their flirting is so funny. That just makes it all the more awkward when we find out she’s his sister! Theon notices she saunters when she walks, suggesting she’s bold. Oh yes she is!
5. Lol, when they pass through Lordsport, all the townsfolk bow in respect. Theon thinks it’s for him, that they finally learned... Oh man... To his credit, he has been away for so long, they can’t blame him for not remembering who everyone is.
6. Theon has been waiting to find out what his father’s plans are. If he doesn’t approve of them it’s implied he’ll betray his father as fast as he betrayed Robb.
7. None of the merchant ships are allowed to leave harbor in case anyone tries to inform the North of their plans to attack. As they pass the ship that brought him to the Iron Islands he sees the captain’s daughter again, lol, begging to speak to him. He keeps ignoring her.
8. Theon got Wex has a squire as part of the price to pay in order to purchase his horse he is very fond of. Wex is mute, which is one thing Theon likes best about him. I smiled when Wex sees “Esgred” and his eyes widen. He knows who she is and can’t talk! Theon loves his big, bold horse whom he calls Smiler. Not too many people on the Iron Islands have horses; they prefer to be on a ship. Yet another thing that makes Theon different from his home country. He tells Esgred he knew a man once who told him he smiled at the wrong things. I wonder who!
9. On the ride to Pike Theon gropes her breasts and she pulls him away. Getting frisky. He tells her about the Whispering Wood, and then disses his father, then his sister, in front of her. Oh man, lol! He says after the wars are over he’ll marry her off to someone who would take her.
10. Apparently in the Iron Islands uncles have been known to dispossess his weak nephew of his rights, including murder. When he mentions his uncle Aeron’s god, Esgred asks his, not yours? Theon corrects himself. Obviously he isn’t very religious. Of Victarion he says he is like a bull but never wins anything; he lacks the wit and ambition to betray. *SPOILER FOR A DANCE WITH DRAGONS* (view spoiler). But Euron is smart and never gave up the Old Way. He’s also not been seen in two years, and Theon hopes he’s dead. Esgred says if he shows up though, the ironborn will never accept him because he’s a stranger to them. Theon notes that he’s a stranger too, lol.
11. Apparently Theon hasn’t spent any time with his mother in Harlaw since he’s been here, even though it’s only a days ride from Pike. His excuse is he’s so busy helping his father, yeah right, lol. The rest of the ride he talks on and on about Winterfell and realizes she’s easy to confide in, as if he’s known her his whole life. ;)
12. As soon as they pass the gates of Pike and dismount all their dogs bound to Esgred like they’re familiar with her. The stablehand is the first to call her Lady Asha, happy to see she’s back. Ha! It takes Theon a while to realize it’s true. She’d been at Great Wyk the entire time he’s been back and only arrived with Lord Goodbrother and his army yesterday. She humiliated him good! Wex smirks and he smacks him on the ear, lol.
13. He skulks about the things he said and did in front of her, and that she groped him, even unlaced his breeches at one point, teasingly. I love this: “He could not possibly have made a more appalling fool of himself.” Yup! That’s what you get for not recognizing your own sister! He blames her for the reason he has no place here. Everyone respects and loves her while no one remembers him. But that’s not her fault!
14. Theon dresses plainly this time and wears no adornments; he hadn’t bought anything with iron. He’s learning! He remembers killing a wildling that had threatened Bran Stark but he had nothing worth taking. I laughed when he tells himself he kills only the poor. :)
15. At the feast Theon sits next to Asha and hisses that she’s sitting in his place. She says she thought his place was at Winterfell, ouch! She tells him Esgred was the name Sigrid named his first ship he made, after his mother. Asha was never married, nor pregnant. Well, she is. Her husband is her battleaxe and her baby is her dirk. Everyone at the feast laughs at him, even heir father’s smiling. Poor Theon. He deserves it at this point, though!
16. Asha says for ten years he was a wolf, but now that he’s come back he expects everyone to obey him. Why should anyone want to fight and die for him? Theon says because he’s their prince! She says by the green law, maybe, but the ironborn make their own laws. Interesting. For ten years he’s dreamed of going home again but now that he’s back all he’s earned was mockery. Awe.
17. Omg, lol, Asha grabs Theon’s cock again under the table, making him jump in surprise. I don’t have a brother, but if I did I would never< do that! Lol, Theon says marriage is not for her; when he rules Pike he’s shipping her off to the Silent Sisters, lol!
18. When Theon enters his father’s council Balon commands Theon to take eight longships and harry the Stony Shore, that’s the western beaches in the North, raiding fishing villages and sink any ships he sees. This may grab the attention of some of the northern lords. His Uncle Aeron and Dagmar Cleftjaw will accompany him. Theon takes this as an insult, but I think this is smart of Balon. Theon has never commanded a ship, let alone a fleet, before. It’ll give him some practice and show his father what he’s capable of. If he does well, I’m sure his father would give him something a bit more challenging. This is his last son! I’m sure he doesn’t want to lose him too, despite the lack of love he shows him. Theon needs to gain his father’s trust, but he is too proud. However, I don’t support this second rebellion Balon is hatching, not unless he intends to take it to King’s Landing!
19. Balon orders Asha to take 30 longships and take over Deepwood Motte. It sounds like they have a good relationship, father and daughter. The Glovers are away, fighting in the south, so it’ll be easy taking it over, securing a base there for the ironborn.
20. To Victarion Balon gives the rest of the fleet. They’ll sail up the Saltspear and take over Moat Cailin. Intersting Balon says the Neck is hte key to the kingdom, unless he means only the North. Plus, it cuts Robb and his army off from getting back home. Balon says it may take a year but eventually Winterfell will fall, and they’ll make all in the North their thralls and salt wives. Very bold, but the North is a great stretch of land and most of it is inland. And if Balon manages to hold the North, will he have enough to defend it from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms? I know Moat Cailin is very difficult to take down, but the other half of the Neck is swamplands. Will Howland Reed stand by and let this happen?
21. Interesting that Aeron proclaims the Drowned God will spread his domain across the greenlands! It seems eerie because it’s raining harder than ever outside.
22. I forgot that Theon stops on the swinging bridge and contemplates the rocks below. Was he really thinking about suicide for a moment there? He slips but Asha picks him up. For hating her so much I’m surprised he lets her carry him back to his chambers. I like how he says he liked her better when she was Esgred. And this made me smile: “That’s fair. I liked you better when you were nine.” :)
The whole thing it's funny, but it's so weird too! Like Asha wtf with the touching when he knows who she is! It was awkward as hell but I kept laughing imagining Theon's face.Interesting what you said in your point 22, that he might be considering suicide. It didn't occur to me, but it could be. He must have been feeling like shit after all.
1-Theon is watching a ship, made for him an a woman approached him. He could tell she was used to a deck under her feet, and was ironborn. He sees her and wants to fuck her just like that. Wtf Theon, so soon! It seems fucking is one of his priorities in life.
2-She told him she was wed, and new with child, and far for letting him down, it excited him. Her husband Sigrin did the ship, Theon didn't know he was married, and thought she was too much for him. Such a dick.
3-It's been years since he sailed a ship, and never captain one. I wonder if he thinks he'll learn in days, lol.
4-Her name is Esgred, and there is an awkward touching knowing she's his sister. Of course I didn't know it the first time, but now reading it was so weird. He named the ship after her in a way, Sea Bitch. How cute. She said she'd go with him to Pyke, and he had his horse in the inn, so they go there.
5-The inn was in Lordsport, and he noticed how the people of the town acknowledge him, growing quite. Lol, they were doing it for Asha.
6-So, they planned to go to war in a fortnight. Lord Goodbrother (good name though) arrived last night, with his main host and almost 40 longships.
7-This was kinda sad: "He’d looked for a few of the friends he’d played with as a boy, but they were gone, dead, or grown into strangers."
8-She saw a lot of people she knew, and Theon noticed that. He didn't know anyone.
9-I forgot Balon didn't let the merchmant go, he didn't want anyone to know they were marching. Like Stannis did, kinda.
10-This boy Wex was his squire, and I got confused. Theon thought he was dumb, but I don't think a dumb boy would be so good at dicing.
11-I also forgot Theon's horse was from Lannisport. People in the Iron Islands weren't used to mount horses, so they didn't have the best ones. His name is Smiler. I don't know why.
12-Theon being who he is touched Esgred's breasts more than once, and didn't care his squire was watching. And he talked of the weather? Haha wtf.
13-I find it funny he talked about his sister, how he would marry once he's king. He planned to marry her off, if someone ever wants to marry the ugly girl. He talks so much shit to her face! He doesn't know, but I like her I have to say, even if she did what she did. He also thinks his uncles are no rivals, like he would be king just like that.
14-It seemed he didn't believe in the Drowned God. I don't think he believes in anything.
15-Euron and Victarion burned the Lannister fleet during Balon's rebellion. I forgot about that too. Euron hasn't been seen in two years, and seems feared in a lot of places.
16-Theon says she'll have a plce in the feast. She asked about his mother, and he says he doesn't have time to go see her, even if she's not that far. Not nice.
17-She was easy to talk to, and he felt he've known her for years. Well, he has.
18-They got to Pyke, and the hounds said hello to her, Theon thought they were bothering her. He knows now she's his sister Asha, and it's so awkward. At least he feels ashamed of all they said, and what they touched. Asha wanted to see who he was. It was a weird way to find out.
19-He felt he didn't had a place there, and it was Asha's fault. I don't know, he spent so many years in Winterfell, and his sister seems like an important person for their father, but I wonder if it would be the same if he'd never left.
20-They are in the feast, and people is playing this finger dance, in which was normal to lose fingers. Is this fun for them? I mean, I don't think it is. Asha told him she's not married, and Esgred was the first ship Sigrin made, and named it after his mother. She made this joke about who her husband and child were, and they were all laughing at Theon, which he didn't like at all. And he's very angry with Asha, and I don't blame him. He was an asshole, but it was awful!
21-She asked a very important question, why would they fight for him? He is a stranger, he doesn't know them and they don't know him.
22-His father tell him he'll have 8 ships to burn fishermen, and Theon thinks it's an insult. He'll go with Aeron and Dagmer Cleftjaw, and he knows he basically won't do shit. Asha, on the other hand, will have 30 ships, and take Deepwood Motte, the Glovers were with Robb, and the castle unprotected. Victarion will have the biggest role, and head to Moat Cailin. It seems his father doesn't trust him.
23-I did like the word exchange they had at the end of the chapter. Theon told his sister he liked her better when she was Esgred, and Asha said she liked him better when he was nine years old. I think this says a lot about them.