Chapter 13: Tyrion

Tyrion travels north and talks with Jon Snow.

Location:

The Kingsroad, north of Winterfell, south of The Wall.

Characters Present:

• Tyrion Lannister: A dwarf, two different colored eyes.
• Benjen Stark: Eddard Stark’s brother serves in the Night’s Watch.  Not a fan of Lannisters.
• Jon Snow: Eddard Stark’s “bastard.” Traveling to “Take the Black” aka, pledge to protect the realm.  14.
• Yoren: Stooped and sinister. Has a beard. Brother of the Night’s Watch. Has a “twisted shoulder” and a sour smell. He is dirty and greasy, with patched old unwashed clothing.
• Morrec: One of Tyrion’s men.

   

Recap:

Tyrion travels north with Benjen Stark and Jon Snow. We get a bit of world building. Lots of descriptions as the weather & ground grow colder. The trees get darker, and Tyrion feels unsettled by Ghost, Jon’s direwolf. Benjen, Jon, Tyrion, and two unnamed Lannister servants/men meet up with Yoren and two peasant boys from the fingers, who are “rapers.”  They also were bringing twenty horses and a cage of ravens from Winterfell to the Wall.

Tyrion has brought his warmest clothing, but it is still not warm enough, and he borrows a riding fur from Benjen. We learn that the Lannisters never decline, graciously or otherwise, they take what is offered.  Tyrion, despite the gymnastic skills he showed us in a previous chapter, is too hobbled and small to be useful. So he goes off to read every night while the other men create shelter and feed the horses. Nice.

Tyrion has taken some books from the Winterfell library as well. One is a book on the history and properties of dragons. He reads about the properties of Dragonbone. He (I guess?) reflects back on the time he first came to King’s Landing and sought out the remains of the dragons. King Robert had banished the skeletons to a cellar but Tyrion found them and was amazed by them. There were 19 of them, the largest being Balerion, large enough to swallow aurochs whole, the smallest being the size of Mastiff skulls.

We also get a little Lannister / Westeros history. I’m not certain if it’s relevant or just more world building. King Loren of the Rock & King Mern of the Reach (when the Seven Kingdoms were kingdoms and not provinces) joined to try and fight Aegon Dragonlord. They lost, despite having more numbers. King Loren lived, pledged fealty to the Targaryens, and beget a son.

Jon Snow asks Tyrion why Tyrion reads so much. Jon Snow is not what we would call an academic. This won’t be the last time he questions why people read. Tyrion, however, decides to answer him honestly and asks Jon to “Look at me and tell me what you see.” Jon, of course is suspicious and polite, and answers with Tyrion’s name. Tyrion points out that he, Tyrion, is a dwarf. Tyrion points out the many problems he has with being a dwarf, from needing special equipment to ride a horse, to his arms being too short to make a swordsman. He also points out that his father was Hand to the King that his brother killed. He ends this monologue by saying that his mind is his weapon.

They talk for a bit. Tyrion thinks that Jon has the Stark face, and that whomever Jon’s mother is, she left little of herself in her son. (L+R=J) To further the L+R=J speculation, the conversation drifts toward dragons. Jon points out there are no more dragons. Tyrion talks about how he dreamed of riding a dragon and watching his sister and father burn.

Jon looks horrified at this, and Tyrian questions him, prodding into Jon’s insecurities about Lady Stark, Robb, Winterfell, and the Wall. Jon gets upset and is close to tears. Tyrion feels guilty and goes to pat him on the shoulder when Ghost attacks Tyrion.

Jon forces him to ask nicely, and when Tyrion does, Jon calls of the wolf. They return to camp.

Characters Mentioned:                 

• Robert Baratheon
• Eddard Stark
• Aegon Targaryen: Unleashed dragons on the Seven Kingdoms of Old.
• Balerion, Meraxes, Vhaghar: Targaryen dragons
• King Loren of the Rock: Lannister ancestor.
• King Mern of the Reach: Joined Lannister ancestors to oppose Targaryen conquest.

   

Other Locations Mentioned:

• Winterfell
• King’s Landing
• Summer Isles
• Casterly Rock – Where the Lannisters come from.
• Port of Ibben – hairy mammoths said to roam the cold wastes here.

   

Thoughts:

• This is another chapter where the majority of the “action” is just a dialogue between two people. I’m beginning to see GRRM’s television roots in this book.
• I enjoyed the bit of Westeros history this time around. I don’t think I ever noticed it before.
• Another “shout-out” to Jon’s very Stark-like appearance.
• I like the interaction between Jon & Tyrion. Tyrion wasn’t too upset at the humiliation and before he was attacked he was on the verge of apology.
• Jon really isn’t into the reading, and he’s got a bit of a temper.
• I don’t know if Tyrion will ride a dragon. But I do know that this passage about Tyrion and dragons is cited a lot when people talk about Tyrion being a dragon rider. I do wonder if this dreaming of fires and dragons is just normal Westeros boy stuff, or if it has something to do with the stuff about Aerys and Johanna in TWOIAF.
• I wonder who those two raper boys from the fingers that Yoren is bringing to the Wall are.
• Jon is showing signs of maturity by the end. “It is what it is.” Poor Jon.
• Will Tyrion lose his intelligence? He lists people’s strengths, and the people he listed have lost their strength. Robert’s Warhammer won’t do him any good. Jaime loses his sword hand.   Or just coincidence?
• What is the point of “conquering?” Burning people alive with dragons for what?
• For some reason, I was surprised that Jon shared a tent with Benjen. And Benjen was kind of Uncle-ly toward Jon in their interactions. 

Links to Previous Chapter Recaps: 

• Prologue
• Bran I
• Catelyn I
• Daenerys I
• Eddard I
• Jon I
• Catelyn II
• Arya I
• Bran II
• Tyrion I
• Jon II
• Daenerys II
• Eddard II