Chapter 4: Eddard I

Two wealthy powerful men literally enter a crypt and make a deal. They do not leave. (Metaphorically. They leave, just not on screen.)

List of Characters Present:

• Eddard “Ned” Stark

• Ser Jaime Lannister – hair as bright as beaten gold. Twin to Cersei Lannister

• Sandor Clegane – burned face

• Crown Prince – Tall

• Tyrion “Imp” Lannister – stunted little man

• King Robert Baratheon – 6’6”, wears too much perfume, has a girth to match his height.

• Cersei Lannister - Queen

Characters Not Present, yet still mentioned:

• Balon Greyjoy – had a rebellion nine years ago

• Theon Greyjoy – Ned took him as ward and hostage.

• Lord Rickard Stark – Deceased. Forced to watch Brandon die.

• Brandon Stark – Strangled by the Mad King

• Mad King Aerys Targaryen - killed Brandon Stark while Lord Rickard Stark watched. Usurped by Robert Baratheon

• Catelyn Tully of Riverrun –Betrothed to Brandon Stark. Married to Ned.

• Lyanna Stark – Dead at 16. Robert loved her. Fond of flowers.

• Howland Reed – a crannogman

• Rhaegar Targaryen

• Jon Arryn - deceased

• Lysa Arryn – wife of Jon Arryn, sister of Catelyn, mother to Robert Arryn. Kind of insane.

• Lord Tywin Lannister – father to Jaime, Tyrion and Cersei. Lord of Casterly Rock.

Other Locations mentioned:

• Highgarden: has fields of golden roses and fruit

• Storm’s End: Robert was Lord of Storm’s End, before he claimed the throne.

• The ford of the Trident – Robert and Rhaegar fought here. We will see this place again, soon.

• the Eyrie

• Casterly Rock

• King’s Landing: Where the king lives.

Rec ap

King Robert and his people arrive at Winterfell. Ned notes that Robert, his former friend, now King, isn’t looking so hot. Speaking of hot, sounds like Robert was pretty good looking when they were younger. Tall, muscular, clean-shaven, and clear-eyed. Now he is fat and tired looking, and wearing perfume. Ned thinks back about the Greyjoy rebellion. The two families meet each other and immediately Robert asks to pay his respects. Cersei protests but Jaime quiets her. As Robert and Eddard descend the steps, Robert chats about how great the summer weather is down south. They stop at the end, at the site of the remains of Ned’s father, brother, and sister. Ned thinks back on the death of his brother. Robert complains that Lyanna shouldn’t be in a crypt. Ned reminds him that he, Ned, was with Lyanna when she died. He thinks back to when Robert and Rhaegar fought at the Trident.

Robert mentions about wanting to kill Rhaegar for what he did to Lyanna. Ned reminds him that he did kill Rhaegar. Robert wants to do it again, and does, in his dreams. Every night. Because that is a healthy and productive behavior.

They retrace their steps, slowly (it's slow because Robert is fat now. Because, you know, being a king made him into a fat alcoholic). Eddard asks about Jon Arryn, Lysa, and Robert Arryn. Robert mentions he wanted Little Robert Arryn to foster with Tywin Lannister at Casterly Rock, as Little Robert is sickly. Instead, Lysa had fled back to the Eyrie with him (young Robert Arryn). Ned thinks but does not speak that he would sooner leave a child with a pit viper than Lord Tywin.   The description of Jon Arryn's death sounds like poison. 

Robert offers Ned the position of Hand of the King. Net tries to protest, and it is mentioned that he also stripped Little Robert Arryn of the title “Warden of the East.” Ned does not want this “honor” or the position. They discuss it a bit, and then Robert also mentions that he wants Ned to marry Sansa to his son, the crown prince Joffrey.

Thoughts.

Robert is GIANT. He was 6’6” before he gained eight stone. That’s 112 lbs. for the Americans. Or 50 kg for those who use measurements that make actual sense. I miss Robert, sort of. He seems like one of those douchey guys you meet who are hilarious and full of themselves and cocky and will somehow trick you into sleeping with them. And then never call, but maybe show up again in a month or two and be charming and hilarious all over again. Or, if you are able to resist the charms, his language at least is entertaining. He’s a total jerk to Eddard though. He’s all “you people up here suck. It’s cold. I had to travel through the countryside and it’s cold. Come to King’s Landing where women are awesome, not like here, where it sucks.” Robert also does not like ruling the kingdom. It’s boring. He’d rather be out fighting and doing something. Maybe he should have joined the Night’s Watch, and fought the real enemies.

Robert mentions that his ass is raw from the Iron Throne. Is it Barristan or Eddard that comments that  rulers shouldn’t sit easy on the throne? Makes Dany’s little cushions all the more suspect. She should not rule Westeros. I don’t know who should. Perhaps a return to seven autonomous kingdoms? Abolishment of the idea of Lords and Kings and instead a socialist type of government? Would that work in a pseudo-medieval society with different norms, expectations, and lifestyle?

I noticed that Ned, practical man that doesn’t believe in signs, wonders if the ghosts of the oldest Starks were free to roam the castle. He also only mentions how Brandon died, and how he married Catelyn instead. No mention of the (horrible) death of Rickard Stark. I also really enjoyed the description of the crypts.

The often-quoted paragraph about Ned promising something to Lyanna is in this chapter. It mentions a fever (from childbirth, maybe?) and rose petals spilling from her palm. And that “they” had found him clutching her body. Even though later it is said that the only people coming back from the Tower of Joy was Ned and Howland Reed. Furthermore, he buried Ser Arthur Dayne at the TOJ, and yet his sister’s remains are in Winterfell. I hope this matter is cleared up at some point. Perhaps she didn’t die at the TOJ? No, I think it’s pretty clear that Ned and his men took out the three Kingsguard at the TOJ, and he went inside to find Lyanna. Maybe she wasn’t dead and traveled with Ned and the crannogman to Starfall, where she had her child and died? I think Barristan might have remembered that.

I really enjoyed the fact that we got two stories about the trident already. We heard Dany’s recollection, or at least the story she had been told by Targ loyalists, and then Ned’s story. Although, we are still missing some key information about the cause of the war. Although, right now I’m thinking it goes back to Duskendale, I’m sure when the Winds of Winter comes out, that will change.  

Ned really does not have a choice. Robert B came all the way up to Winterfell, and he’s not someone that anyone in the Kingdom can say “no” to. Ned is forced to play the Game, tries to play honorably, and loses his head. (Unless you are a crazy conspiracy person who thinks Ned was switched in the dungeons with a different person, in which case, no. That didn’t happen.)