The Captain of Guards - AFFC Chapter 2
Feb 13, 2016 19:37:55 GMT
Some Pig No Doubt and Weasel Pie like this
Post by Melifeather on Feb 13, 2016 19:37:55 GMT
The Captain of Guards - AFFC Chapter 2
UPDATE - Feb 10, 2017 - A recent reread has caused me to rethink some of my theories regarding what this chapter is about. I am going to leave my initial thoughts intact and add my more recent revelations in the comments. For instance, I was thinking this chapter was about Lyanna confronting Tywin about Rickard's murder, but I now think it's more likely that this chapter is about when Tywin's father Tytos died.
I have found that when deciphering these chapters it can be very difficult to determine who the POV is channeling in the beginning. Frequently the symbolism can apply to more than one person. Various pieces seem to work together, but every piece needs to fit in order to complete the puzzle. Sometimes it’s the supporting characters that provide the breakthrough, like Arienne did for me in this chapter. My first thought for our Captain was Ser Gerold Hightower. His words to Jaime about not judging the king seemed to fit Areo Hotah’s modus operandi, but Arienne seems to clearly be channelling Cersei, so I asked the question, who would be guarding Tywin? Ser Ilyn Payne was Tywin's personal guard during the time when Tywin was Aerys II's hand. Several years later he employed Ser Gregor Clegane, whose symbolism also matches up in this chapter. Ser Gregor was there at the Sack and was responsible for raping and killing Princess Elia, so for that reason I think that this chapter is about both men. Many thanks to Some Pig for suggesting Ser Gregor as the man guarding Tywin, even though the chapter ended up including Ser Ilyn.
Throughout the Captain of Guards our POV Areo notices overripe oranges dropping from trees. He’s guarding Doran Martell who is suffering from crippling gout, and in the background they both hear the sounds of children splashing in a water garden. What is the author trying to communicate to us with this symbolism? As you will see, it's something very ominous.
Gout - The need to dominate. Impatience. Anger.
Overripe oranges - Waited too long to harvest. Strongly negative or positive. Can also represent betrayal and distrust.
Water Gardens - Equates life, refreshment, growth, but as we’ve seen with the Ironborn and the symbolic northern sea it can also mean death.
I’m going to go about this chapter a little bit differently than I’ve done some of the others. I’m going to give you the keys to the car before teaching you how to drive.
Areo Hotah = Ser Ilyn Payne, later also Ser Gregor Clegane
Prince Doran = Tywin Lannister
Obara Sand = Lyanna Stark
Oberyn Martell = Rickard & Brandon Stark
Lady Nymeria = Ashara Dayne
Tyene Sand = Elia Martell Targaryen
Arys the White Knight = Jaime Lannister/Arthur Dayne/Robert Baratheon
Princess Arianne = Cersei Lannister
The Queen = Jaime’s Queen is Cersei - may be Robert's too
Sarella = Rhaella
Princess Myrcella = symbolic for a marriage proposal
Sunspear = Casterly Rock
Maester Caleoette = Maester Pycell - might be some Maester Walys also
The Mountain = the man at the top, King Aerys II
Lord Tywin = Rhaegar
“The blood oranges are well past ripe,” the prince observed in a weary voice, when the captain rolled him onto the terrace. After that he did not speak again for hours.
Tywin Lannister was a man of few spoken words, but some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens. Tywin has been plotting betrayal and it’s time for the killing blow.
Serve. Obey. Protect. Simple vows for a simple man. These words are the very essence of Areo Hotah, Captain of Guards for Prince Doran Martell. Areo is originally from the Free City of Norvos. He is broad-shouldered with white hair. He bears a longaxe that has a shaft six feet long.
Ilyn is a grim man, thin, with a beardless, pockmarked face. He has a deep set of pale, colorless eyes and hollow cheeks. He is almost completely bald. He wears iron-grey chainmail over boiled leather with a large greatsword worn over his right shoulder. It has been mentioned more than once in the story that Ilyn lives for nothing but killing. Due to his appearance as well as his silence, many characters find him terrifying, a suitable trait for the King's Justice. While Ilyn keeps his weaponry immaculate, his chambers within the Red Keep's dungeon are poorly kept. Since he cannot read or write, he delegates to underlings, such as Rennifer Longwaters. Ser Ilyn was the commander of Lord Tywin Lannister's guard when he was Hand of the King for King Aerys II Targaryen. He was heard saying that it was Tywin who truly ruled the Seven Kingdoms, rather than Aerys. The king had Ilyn's tongue torn out with hot pincers for the comment. Ilyn was named as the King's Justice by King Robert I Baratheon as a wedding present for Tywin. It was a sinecure to compensate Ilyn for the tongue he lost in the service of House Lannister. Ilyn is an extremely skilled executioner. He has never botched an execution and seldom requires more than a single stroke to finish off his charges.
It bears pointing out that Areo's description also fits Ser Gregor. Ser Gregor Clegane is Tywin’s mad, but loyal dog. He’s freakishly large at close to 8ft tall. He has massive shoulders and arms thick as small tree trunks, and weighs over thirty stone (420 lbs) and inhumanly strong. His strength allows him to wield a six-foot two-handed greatsword with just one hand. He has been known to hack men in half with a single blow.
Doran may have been the first to comment on the overripe oranges, but Areo has noticed them too. They make a plopping noise when they fall, and some burst open releasing a sharp sweet scent that he smells with every breath. At the same time, Areo could hear small children splashing in the pools and fountains of the Water Gardens.
The overripe and bursting fruit, and the splashing children symbolize the two Houses that Tywin Lannister destroyed: The Tarbecks, and the Reynes of Castamere. Both were bannermen. Both borrowed money from their leige lord of Lannister. Both took advantage of Tytos’s weakness, and both ignored Tywin’s demands for repayment. Roger Reyne even reportedly laughed when he read Tywin’s edicts and councilled his friends and vassals to do nothing. If Areo heard the oranges and children in the water, then Ser Gregor was likely with Tywin when those two families were destroyed.
The Tarbecks - bursting fruit
Rather than starve out Tarbeck Hall, Tywin used siege engines to destroy it’s keep, bursting it open, and it collapsed on Lady Ellyn Tarbeck and her son, Tion the Red. Then he ordered the castle put to the torch (blood-orange flames).
The Reynes - splashing water
Named after a nearby pool of water, Castamere began as a mine like Casterley Rock. Nine-tenths of the castle was subterranean. Tywin had the entrances buried beneath stone, and then dammed the pool’s stream and diverted it into a mine entrance, flooding the underground chambers.
The overripe blood oranges could also apply to Tywin’s plans to remove Aerys II from the Iron Throne and wipe out the Targaryen line. The water gardens represent a pregnant mother about to give birth. Think about the plan to overthrow Aerys as Tywin’s baby developing in the womb. The seeds were planted, the garden carefully tended, the patience while his child grows in an embriotic sac filled with water. The plan develops and soon the labor pangs come. In Tywin’s mind the birth is long overdue.
Doran Martell’s gout represents Tywin’s need to dominate, cause fear, inflict pain, and demand respect. GRRM humorously describes to the two largest, sorest lumps on Doran’s knees as an apple and a melon. IMO the melon represents Aerys and the apple is Rhaegar, since apples don’t fall far from the tree.
Prince Doran held the letter in his lap all afternoon without breaking the seal. He sat watching the children until the sun went down and the evening air grew cool, and then he watched the starlight on the water. It was moonrise before he sent Hotah to fetch a candle so that he might read the news about Oberyn’s death beneath the orange trees in the dark of night. Obara had told Hotah that everywhere, everywhere, women tear their hair and men cry out in rage.
The Reynes took refuge at Castamere, their subterranean seat which had developed from gold and silver mines. With ample food in storage, Ser Reynard Reyne abandoned the surface fortifications once his soldiers were in Castamere’s tunnels. Tywin ordered the entrances sealed with tons of stone, earth, and soil so that there was no way in or out. Over the course of three days, Tywin had his men dam a nearby stream and divert it to the mine entrance. Water easily found it’s way through the tiny gaps in the rubble. None of the three hundred men, women, and children within emerged from the tunnels.
We need to keep in mind the fate of the Reynes of Castamere to understand what Tywin is thinking and what he was capable of. When Tywin read the letter about Rickard and Brandon’s death and how Aerys declared Trial by Battle, Tywin reflects about how he wiped out the Reynes and how he now is planning to wipe out the Targaryens.
Captain Hotah next hears boots on marble and we meet Obara, one of Oberyn Martell’s bastard daughters and the eldest of the Sand Snakes. She’s a big-boned woman near to thirty, long-legged, with close-set eyes and rat-brown hair. She’s hot-tempered, strong, and quick, and she arrived on horseback. Her horse would be lathered, and bloody from her spurs. She always rode stallions, and had been heard to boast that she could master any horse in Dorne.
Lyanna is described by all to be beautiful, but her brother Eddard refers to her as wolf-blooded, headstrong, willful, courageous, and hot-tempered. She’s a skilled rider, and Harwin whose father was master of horse compared Arya’s riding skills to hers…so she rides like a northman and loved to ride. Barbery Dustin described Lyanna as a centaur and that she was half a horse herself.
Obara has come to meet with Doran to demand vengence for her father’s death. Areo notes that Obara always walked too fast. She is chasing after something she can never catch, the prince had told his daughter once, in the captain’s hearing.
Lyanna has come looking for Tywin to demand vengence for her father and brother’s deaths. Areo’s words about Obara chasing something makes me think that Tywin was reassuring Cersei about something. What was Lyanna chasing that would worry Cersei? It would be tempting to insert Rhaegar here, but remember Tywin already planned to kill both Aerys and Rhaegar, so I think they are discussing the position of Queen. Cersei is concerned about Lyanna’s betrothal to Robert, but Tywin assures Cersei that Lyanna will never be Queen.
Obara informs Areo Hotah that thousands are crossing the sands on foot just to help bring Oberyn home, that the septs are packed to bursting, and in the pillow houses women are coupling with men for free.
Lyanna informs Ser Ilyn Payne that thousands of northmen are crossing the Trident on foot just to bring Rickard and Brandon home.
There are eight Sand Snakes, but only three were arrested and kept in a tower. Sarella was at Oldtown, and the four youngest were isolated at the Water Gardens with their mother to prevent them from being used in any plots.
This chapter suggests that three women came separately to Tywin after the deaths of Brandon and Rickard: Lyanna, Ashara, and Elia. All three are arrested, all three are associated with towers, and all three died. Things are not looking so good for the Sand Snakes.
After the war of the Ninepenny Kings, Tywin tried to quell rebellious lords by demanding repayment of loans. Walderan Tarbeck rode to Casterly Rock to address Tytos, but Tywin had him imprisoned. In response, his wife Ellyn took three Lannisters hostage, including Stafford Lannister. Ellyn let Tytos know that she would kill the Lannister hostages if he harmed her husband. Although Tywin advised to send Walderan back in three pieces, Tytos insisted upon a peaceful solution. Tywin and his brother Kevan took hostages from every family that owed them money until their loans were repaid. One hostage, Dorna Harys ended up marrying Kevan.
She shall not pass, he told himself, and said, “The prince is watching the children at their play. He is never to be disturbed when he is watching children at their play.”
It’s not difficult to imagine Ser Ilyn Payne saying much of the same to Lyanna, and the comment about the children was likely something more in the form of a warning…a reference to Castamere.
I am including the dialog between Obara and Doran, and if you choose to read it, pretend as if it were Lyanna and Tywin. The maester is of course, Pycelle.
“The prince does not wish to be disturbed.”
Her face had been stone before he spoke; then it hardened. “You are in my way, Hotah.” Beneath a mottled sandsilk cloak of dun and gold, her riding clothes were old brown leather, worn and supple. They were the softest things about her. On one hip she wore a coiled whip, across her back a round shield of steel and copper. She had left her spear outside. For that, Areo Hotah gave thanks. Quick and strong as she was, the woman was no match for him, he knew . . . but she did not, and he had no wish to see her blood upon the pale pink marble.
Maester Caleotte shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Lady Obara, I tried to tell you . . .”
“Does he know that my father and brother are dead?” Obara asked the captain, paying the maester no more mind than she would a fly, if any fly had been foolish enough to buzz about her head.
“He does,” the captain said. “He had a bird.”
(Later on when Doran agrees to see her)
“Captain,” came the command, from behind. “Let her pass. I will speak with her.” The prince’s voice was hoarse.
Areo Hotah jerked his longaxe upright and stepped to one side. Obara gave him a lingering last look and strode past, the maester hurrying at her heels. Caleotte was no more than five feet tall and bald as an egg. His face was so smooth and fat that it was hard to tell his age, but he had been here before the captain, had even served the prince’s mother. Despite his age and girth, he was still nimble enough, and clever as they came, but meek. He is no match for any Sand Snake, the captain thought.
In the shade of the orange trees, the prince sat in his chair with his gouty legs propped up before him, and heavy bags beneath his eyes . . . though whether it was grief or gout that kept him sleepless, Hotah could not say. Below, in the fountains and the pools, the children were still at their play. The youngest were no more than five, the oldest nine and ten. Half were girls and half were boys. Hotah could hear them splashing and shouting at each other in high, shrill voices.
(later on)
“My father has been murdered.”
“He was slain in single combat during a trial by battle,” Prince Doran said. “By law, that is no murder.”
“He was your supporter.”
“He was.”
“What do you mean to do about his death?”
The prince turned his chair laboriously to face her. Though he was but two-and-fifty, Doran Martell seemed much older. His body was soft and shapeless beneath his linen robes, and his legs were hard to look upon. The gout had swollen and reddened his joints grotesquely; his left knee was an apple, his right a melon, and his toes had turned to dark red grapes, so ripe it seemed as though a touch would burst them. Even the weight of a coverlet could make him shudder, though he bore the pain without complaint. Silence is a prince’s friend, the captain had heard him tell his daughter once. Words are like arrows, Arienne. Once loosed, you cannot call them back. “I have written to Lord Tywin—”
“Written? If you were half the man my father was—”
“I am not your father.”
“That I knew.” Obara’s voice was thick with contempt.
“You would have me go to war.”
“I know better. You need not even leave your chair. Let me avenge my father. You have a host in the Prince’s Pass. Lord Yronwood has another in the Boneway. Grant me the one and Nym the other. Let her ride the kingsroad, whilst I turn the river lords out of their castles and hook round to march on Oldtown.”
“And how could you hope to hold Oldtown?”
“It will be enough to sack it. The wealth of Oldtown—”
“Is it gold you want?”
“It is blood I want.”
“Lord Tywin shall deliver us the Mountain’s head.”
“And who will deliver us Lord Tywin’s head? The Mountain has always been his pet.”
The prince gestured toward the pools. “Obara, look at the children, if it please you.”
“It does not please me. I’d get more pleasure from driving my spear into Lord Tywin’s belly. I’ll make him sing ‘The Rains of Castamere’ as I pull his bowels out and look for gold.”
“Look,” the prince repeated. “I command you.”…..
Doran demands several times that Obara look at the children playing, and he reminds her that she was once a child swimming in the Water Gardens. He gestured towards the pools and asks her again to look at the children, if it pleases her. Obara said it didn’t please her, but she would be happy if she could kill Tywin herself.
I think Obara and Doran’s discussion about the children in the water garden symbolize the conversation that Tywin and Lyanna had. He likely reminded her about what he did to the Reynes of Castamere and asks if she’d be pleased if he did the same to the Targaryens, but Lyanna says she’d get more pleasure if she killed Aerys herself. When Doran tells Obara that Tywin said he’d deliver the Mountain’s head it mirrors when Tywin told Lyanna that Rhaegar promised to get rid of Aerys, but Lyanna counters with who will deliver us Rhaegar’s head? So much for romance!
Doran tells Obara that her father played in the water gardens too, ten years after he did. Which is very suggestive of Rickard. Doran said he oft saw him topple boys much bigger than himself.
After Obara leaves, Maester Caleotte questions Doran whether it’s prudent to allow Obara to return to Sunspear? She was certain to inflame the common people as they loved Oberyn well.
After Lyanna leaves, Maester Pycelle questions Tywin whether it’s prudent to allow Lyanna to leave Kings Landing? She was certain to inflame the northmen as they loved Rickard well.
Doran comments that he loved Oberyn, and that he must return to Sunspear as well. Caleotte asks him if that is wise. Doran says it’s not wise, but necessary. He instructs Caleotte to send a rider to Ricasso to prepare his apartments in the Tower of the Sun, and inform his daughter, Arienne that he will be there the next day.
It appears that Tywin had some affection for Rickard, like a brother as evidenced by Doran’s love for Oberyn. He tells Pycelle that he must leave Kings Landing. Pycelle asks him if that is wise. Tywin answers that it wasn’t wise, but necessary. He instructs Pycelle to send a rider to Casterly Rock to inform his daughter, Cersei that he is coming home and he leaves the Tower of the Hand.
My little princess. The captain had missed her sorely. This was Areo’s thoughts regarding Arianne. I wonder if Ser Ilyn feels the same about Cersei?
Caleotte warns Doran that he will be seen. Likely Pycelle warned Tywin much the same way. Doran says he must be seen. Dorne needs to be reminded it still has a prince. It’s pure speculation on my part, but perhaps Tywin made all the appearances of returning to Casterly Rock, but went to Harrenhal instead? This is an idea that I had gotten from Some Pig, and would explain how quickly Tywin was able to march on Kings Landing after Rhaegar is killed on the Trident.
Caleotte says that if Doran returns to Sunspear, he’ll need to give audience to Princess Myrcella, that her white knight will be with her, and you know he sends letters to his queen.
"Princess Myrcella" is symbolic of the marriage pact between Robert Baratheon and Lyanna Stark, but it is also Robert and Cersei since Cersei ended up marrying him. I am tempted to identify the white knight as Ser Arthur Dayne, but after completing a the future inversion chapter, The Queenmaker, I know that Arys Oakheart's inversion is Robert Baratheon. Robert is with Lyanna, but writes to Cersei. Jaime could also possibly be the white knight and the letters he writes are also to his Queen Cersei. Symbolically she was his Queen before she ever attained the position. Whoever the white knight is, Ser Ilyn holds this person in distain as mirrored by Areo’s distain for Arys Oakheart. If "Princess Mycelia" represents the once proposed marriage alliance between Martell and Lannister, then Pycelle is counseling Tywin to consider marrying Elia to Jaime after Aerys and Rhaegar are dead.
Areo Hotah thinks about Arys Oakheart, the white knight in this chapter. He thinks about how their names sound alike, but that’s where their likeness ends. Areo left his loyalty to Norvos behind and thinks Arys Oakheart should leave his loyalties to Kings Landing behind. Hotah also felt a certain sadness whenever he saw Arys, because he sensed that one day the two of them would fight, and on that day Oakheart would die. Areo also knows about Arys and Arianne.
The affair parallel sounds like Jaime and Cersei, and Ilyn may have wondered where Jaime’s loyalties lay: with the Kingsguard, or his father? I can also see how this would refer to a secret affair between Robert and Cersei...something that not many knew of other than her father and Maester Pycelle. Either Ilyn is worried about Tywin finding out about their incest, or he's concerned that it would ruin Tywin’s plans if anyone else were to find out about Robert and Cersei. Between the two choices it would be a much bigger deal if Robert and Cersei were sexually involved while he was yet engaged to Lyanna. If this proves true, it's the biggest betrayal in the whole series of books! An interesting detail that Areo foretells is slaying Arys. I think the inversion of this is that Ser Ilyn ends up as King Robert's executioner, so instead of killing Robert he kills on his behalf carrying out the King's Justice.
Doran wants to watch the children play in the water until it gets dark and the children are gone. He tells Areo to have his things ready by morning for the journey back to Sunspear. They talk about siblings. Doran asks about Areo’s siblings, and them tells him about his own. Doran talks about being so much older than his siblings, yet they’re all dead and he’s still alive. Areo talks about himself being the youngest, and thinks about himself as being unwanted.
Not much is known about Ser Ilyn's family, but I do see an inversion here for Gregor Clegane. Ser Gregor’s feelings about Sandor are that he was just another mouth to feed, a big boy who ate too much and soon outgrew his clothes. There were rumors that Gregor killed his father, sister, and his first two wives. Tywin wrested control of Casterly Rock from his father when he was yet a boy, because he felt his father was too weak. While his father played at being Lord, Tywin was killing the Reynes of Castamere.
Areo Hotah didn’t know what to say to Doran after he talked about his family. He reflects that he’s just a captain of guards and has been since he took his vows at the age of six-and-ten. This is the same age that Gregor became a Ser. Later on after Areo is lying in bed he thinks to himself, “I should have gathered up the oranges that fell.” Does this imply that Ser Gregor took it upon himself to act on some of Tywin’s plans? Like, perhaps when he killed Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon?
As he honed his axe, Hotah thought of his childhood home, the high city on the hill and the low part beside the river. He could still recall the sounds of the three bells and how they could set his very bones to shuddering.
I’m not sure, but I think the bell imagery is supposed to make us think about the Battle of the Bells, which was an early battle in the Rebellion, but being there are three bells, it could represent Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon again. I'll double-check the World Book to see if there's any mention of Ser Ilyn as being at the Battle of the Bells, and he may have been if he was guarding Tywin.
There is also some imagery with Areo’s recollections about being burned by a priest with his own axe, how painful it was, and how the hair never grew back where the axe burned him. This could be mirrored by how Gregor burned Sandor’s face when they were children.
When Doran was finally ready to leave the Water Gardens for Sunspear, halfway there Lady Nym catches up to them.
Before Tywin leaves Kings Landing, I am wondering if he met with Ashara Dayne?
Lady Nymeria Sand was five-and-twenty, slender, with straight black hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones, full lips, and milk-pale skin. She was very beautiful.
Ashara Dayne is described as tall, with long dark hair and haunting violet eyes. She had a reputation as a great beauty, and many men were infatuated with her.
Lady Nym asks Doran if it was true that Ser Gregor had killed Princess Elia and her children. Prince Doran admits that he roared out his guilt for all the court to hear. Lady Nym sarcastically responds that they are supposed to be satified that Tywin promises Gregor’s head? Then she asserts that Oberyn already was the cause of Gregor’s death as the poison he used on his spear will surely slowly kill him.
Hmmm. What could be Ashara’s concern here? We’ve already identified Oberyn as Rickard, and the Mountain in this chapter is King Aerys, so “Tywin” in this chapter is Rhaegar,. The conversation between Obara and Doran seems to imply that Ashara asserts that Aerys alone is guilty of the murders of Brandon and Rickard, but that Rhaegar is innocent.
Doran tells Lady Nym that Obara wants war.
Tywin tells Ashara that Lyanna wants him to kill both Aerys and Rhaegar.
Nym laughs and acknowledges that she knows that Obara wants to set the torch to Oldtown, that she hates that city as much as our little sister (Tyene) loves it. Doran asks how she feels about it and she confesses that she was with the Fowler twins when word of Oberyn’s death reached her, and she asks Doran if he knows the Fowler words? Let me soar! She says she doesn’t need a mighty host, only her sweet sister Tyene. She says Tyene is so sweet that no one would suspect her. She also mentions a Ser Daemon who informed her of the poison Oberyn used on the spear that tickled Gregor.
What can we decipher from the above paragraph? IMO it sounds like Ashara knew that someone was slowly poisoning King Aerys. She understands how badly Lyanna wants Aerys and Rhaegar dead, but they didn’t need an army to kill Aerys as the poison would eventually work. She implicates her “sister” Elia as being the one that was poisoning him, and that Elia was so sweet and gentle that no one suspected her. What's most concerning are the Fowler words, "Let me soar", which seem to imply that Ashara was pushed to her death.
Lady Nymeria doesn’t desire complete destruction of Oldtown, just four lives: Cersei, Jaime, Tywin, and Tommen.
Ashara doesn’t want complete destruction of “Oldtown” which is symbolic of the Targaryen dynasty in Kings Landing. She wants four lives: Rhaegar, Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon, but is she asking for their deaths, or is she begging for their lives?
Doran objects to Nymeria asking for the “little king”. He asserts that the boy has never wronged us. Nymeria declares the boy is a bastard born of treason, incest, and adultery, if Lord Stannis is to be believed. Doran finds himself watching Nymeria through narrowed eyes. While Obara wore her weapon upon her hip and carried a spear where everyone could see, Lady Nym was no less deadly, though she kept her knives well hidden.
What is Ashara really saying regarding the babe, Aegon? She is specifically begging for Aegon’s life. Could it be that Aegon is actually her son? Tywin objects saying he’s a only a bastard born of treason, (incest?), and adultry. He narrows his eyes at Ashara and now sees her as a threat. He understands that while Ashara is a lady at court, she is no less deadly to his plans.
Lady Nym declares that only royal blood can wash out her father’s murder. Doran replies that Oberyn died during single combat, fighting in a matter that was none of his concern. He didn’t think that it was murder.
Ashara declares that Rhaegar shouldn’t be held responsible for Brandon and Rickard’s deaths, because Rickard asked for trial by combat. Tywin called it murder, and that Rhaegar needed to die along with Aerys.
Doran said he sent Oberyn to Kings Landing to investigate Elia’s murder. He instructed him to make note of their strengths and weaknesses, to find friends, but to take care not to provoke Lord Tywin unduly.
Sounds like Tywin advised Rickard before he went to Kings Landing. He instructed him in Aerys strengths and weaknesses, and who is friends were, and to take care not to provoke King Aerys unduly.
Lady Nym tells Doran that Oberyn waited 17 years to receive justice for Elia’s death.
Tywin was Hand for nearly 20 years of peace and plenty, but all those years Aerys became more and more jealous…of Tywin’s wife, his children, and his success. The common people believed that it was Tywin that actually ruled. When Jaime was 15 years old, Aerys robbed Tywin of his heir by appointing him to the Kingsguard. The gout of resentment grew between the two over the years.
Lady Nym declares that neither she, nor her sisters would wait as long as their father and Doran to take their vengence.
Ashara declare that neither she, nor Lyanna, nor Elia would wait for Tywin to make his move.
Doran leaves the towers of the Water Gardens and arrives at Sunspear which is described as built from mud and straw, and colored brown and dun. The stronghold stands at the easternmost end of a little jut of stone and sand surrounded on three sides by the sea. There’s a large dromond ship called the Sandship washed ashore.
Tywin leaves the towers of Kings Landing and arrives at Casterly Rock which is carved out of a great stone rock beside the Sunset Sea. The base of the rock contains large sea-carved caverns. The stone has been mined for years and mindshafts go down into the depths of the rock. Its port has docks, wharves, and shipyards. It is possible Tywin arrived there by ship.
Arianne was waiting for Doran when he arrived. She had half the court about her and twoscore of Dornish knights, and Little Myrcella stood alongside her septa, and Ser Arys of the Kingsguard.
Cersei was waiting for Tywin when he arrived. She had half the court about her and twoscore of knights. “Little Myrcella” stood alongside her septa, and Robert Baratheon. I cannot decide if "Little Myrcella" is meant to be Lyanna or Cersei here. It could just symbolize the secret marriage proposal between Robert and Cersei...the agreement Jon Arryn agreed to in order to gain Tywin's support in the Rebellion.
Princess Arianne greets her father, and Areo notices her beauty even for her young age. This is the second time Ser Ilyn thinks about Cersei in a romantic way.
Doran glances slowly around and says he doesn’t see Tyene. Arianne says Tyene wanted a private word so she sent her to the throne room to await his coming. Hotah desribes the great round chamber beneath the dome in the Tower of the Sun as having sunlight slanting down through thick windows of many-colored glass to dapple the pale marble floor.
The Rock has a Golden Gallery which contains the treasures of the Lannisters, including gilded ornaments and walls, and the Lion’s Mouth, which is the main entry into Casterly Rock. It’s an enormous natural cavern reaching two hundred feet high. It’s steps are wide enough for twenty riders. Both places could be symbolized by the chamber described in the POV chapter, but I think Tywin actually met with Elia before leaving Kings Landing.
Tyene was said to look as innocent as the Maid herself. She was holding some embroidery in one hand when Doran walks in, and a pair of golden needles in the other. Her hair was gold as well, and her eyes were deep blue pools.
Elia was said to be beautiful with dark hair, black eyes and olive skin. She was a gentle, good, and gracious lady, but frail and delicate. Barristan Selmy said she was also kind and clever, with a sweet wit. I haven’t figured out the symbolism of Tyene’s embroidery and golden needles, but there’s got to be a connection to Tywin there. I am wondering if Elia placed poison on the barbs of the Iron Throne? Aerys was known for cutting himself on the throne and even gained the nickname King Scab. Tyene says Dornishmen fight best at home, so I am thinking Elia fought her own war against Aerys slowly poisoning him in front of everyone's nose, right there inside the Red Keep.
Tyene and Doran discuss Myrcella and how they have her thanks to the Imp. Tyene wants to move up Trystane and Myrcella’s wedding and crown Myrcella Queen.
Elia’s mother, who was friends with Joanna Lannister, brought Oberyn and Elia to Casterly Rock with the idea of marrying one or both to Cersei and Jaime. Unfortunately, during their journey, Joanna died birthing Tyrion, and when the Martells arrived Tywin was unreceptive to the proposal. He told them that Cersei was meant for Rhaegar and that she would be Queen one day. Then, when Elia asked for Jaime, Tywin offered her Tyrion instead, which the Martells took as an insult. And like I proposed above, Tywin comes home already with Jon Arryn's proposal to marry Robert to Cersei.
Tyene asserts that Myrcella is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, because she’s older than Tommen.
Did Elia present Rhaenys to Tywin as Rhaegar’s heir? If so, then Tywin would have dismissed her assertions just like he dismissed Ashara’s importance placed on her bastard, Aegon.
Prince Doran is afraid of Tyene, because he fears she will poison him. Areo Hotah and Maester Caleotte take her just as seriously, and the maester examines Doran’s hand after he placed his hand upon her head in blessing.
If Tywin knew Elia was slowly poisoning Aerys, did he fear Elia might do the same to him? If Gregor was witness to all the conversations, did he believe Elia was capable and dangerous? It may have been a deciding factor in Gregor’s eyes when he thought about gathering up some of the overripe oranges himself.
After Tyene left, Doran turned to Areo and asked him about the loyalty of Areo’s men. He wants strict obedience. He wants him to arrest the Sand Snakes as quickly and quietly as possible without bloodshed. Areo then asks about Sarella. Doran says that unless she returns to Dorne from Oldtown, there’s nothing he can do about her.
After he meets with Elia, Tywin turns to Gregor and asks him about the loyalty of his men. He needs strict obedience. He commands the arrest of Lyanna, Ashara, and Elia, quickly, quietly, without bloodshed, but I think Gregor took it upon himself to "gather a few overripe oranges" himself. Gregor asks about “Sarella” (Rhaella?) Tywin says that if she were to leave Kings Landing, there’s nothing he can do about her. Leave her to her…game.
“It will be done.” The captain hesitated. “When this is known in the streets, the common folk will howl.”
UPDATE - Feb 10, 2017 - A recent reread has caused me to rethink some of my theories regarding what this chapter is about. I am going to leave my initial thoughts intact and add my more recent revelations in the comments. For instance, I was thinking this chapter was about Lyanna confronting Tywin about Rickard's murder, but I now think it's more likely that this chapter is about when Tywin's father Tytos died.
I have found that when deciphering these chapters it can be very difficult to determine who the POV is channeling in the beginning. Frequently the symbolism can apply to more than one person. Various pieces seem to work together, but every piece needs to fit in order to complete the puzzle. Sometimes it’s the supporting characters that provide the breakthrough, like Arienne did for me in this chapter. My first thought for our Captain was Ser Gerold Hightower. His words to Jaime about not judging the king seemed to fit Areo Hotah’s modus operandi, but Arienne seems to clearly be channelling Cersei, so I asked the question, who would be guarding Tywin? Ser Ilyn Payne was Tywin's personal guard during the time when Tywin was Aerys II's hand. Several years later he employed Ser Gregor Clegane, whose symbolism also matches up in this chapter. Ser Gregor was there at the Sack and was responsible for raping and killing Princess Elia, so for that reason I think that this chapter is about both men. Many thanks to Some Pig for suggesting Ser Gregor as the man guarding Tywin, even though the chapter ended up including Ser Ilyn.
Throughout the Captain of Guards our POV Areo notices overripe oranges dropping from trees. He’s guarding Doran Martell who is suffering from crippling gout, and in the background they both hear the sounds of children splashing in a water garden. What is the author trying to communicate to us with this symbolism? As you will see, it's something very ominous.
Gout - The need to dominate. Impatience. Anger.
Overripe oranges - Waited too long to harvest. Strongly negative or positive. Can also represent betrayal and distrust.
Water Gardens - Equates life, refreshment, growth, but as we’ve seen with the Ironborn and the symbolic northern sea it can also mean death.
I’m going to go about this chapter a little bit differently than I’ve done some of the others. I’m going to give you the keys to the car before teaching you how to drive.
Areo Hotah = Ser Ilyn Payne, later also Ser Gregor Clegane
Prince Doran = Tywin Lannister
Obara Sand = Lyanna Stark
Oberyn Martell = Rickard & Brandon Stark
Lady Nymeria = Ashara Dayne
Tyene Sand = Elia Martell Targaryen
Arys the White Knight = Jaime Lannister/Arthur Dayne/Robert Baratheon
Princess Arianne = Cersei Lannister
The Queen = Jaime’s Queen is Cersei - may be Robert's too
Sarella = Rhaella
Princess Myrcella = symbolic for a marriage proposal
Sunspear = Casterly Rock
Maester Caleoette = Maester Pycell - might be some Maester Walys also
The Mountain = the man at the top, King Aerys II
Lord Tywin = Rhaegar
“The blood oranges are well past ripe,” the prince observed in a weary voice, when the captain rolled him onto the terrace. After that he did not speak again for hours.
Tywin Lannister was a man of few spoken words, but some battles are won with swords and spears, others with quills and ravens. Tywin has been plotting betrayal and it’s time for the killing blow.
Serve. Obey. Protect. Simple vows for a simple man. These words are the very essence of Areo Hotah, Captain of Guards for Prince Doran Martell. Areo is originally from the Free City of Norvos. He is broad-shouldered with white hair. He bears a longaxe that has a shaft six feet long.
Ilyn is a grim man, thin, with a beardless, pockmarked face. He has a deep set of pale, colorless eyes and hollow cheeks. He is almost completely bald. He wears iron-grey chainmail over boiled leather with a large greatsword worn over his right shoulder. It has been mentioned more than once in the story that Ilyn lives for nothing but killing. Due to his appearance as well as his silence, many characters find him terrifying, a suitable trait for the King's Justice. While Ilyn keeps his weaponry immaculate, his chambers within the Red Keep's dungeon are poorly kept. Since he cannot read or write, he delegates to underlings, such as Rennifer Longwaters. Ser Ilyn was the commander of Lord Tywin Lannister's guard when he was Hand of the King for King Aerys II Targaryen. He was heard saying that it was Tywin who truly ruled the Seven Kingdoms, rather than Aerys. The king had Ilyn's tongue torn out with hot pincers for the comment. Ilyn was named as the King's Justice by King Robert I Baratheon as a wedding present for Tywin. It was a sinecure to compensate Ilyn for the tongue he lost in the service of House Lannister. Ilyn is an extremely skilled executioner. He has never botched an execution and seldom requires more than a single stroke to finish off his charges.
It bears pointing out that Areo's description also fits Ser Gregor. Ser Gregor Clegane is Tywin’s mad, but loyal dog. He’s freakishly large at close to 8ft tall. He has massive shoulders and arms thick as small tree trunks, and weighs over thirty stone (420 lbs) and inhumanly strong. His strength allows him to wield a six-foot two-handed greatsword with just one hand. He has been known to hack men in half with a single blow.
Doran may have been the first to comment on the overripe oranges, but Areo has noticed them too. They make a plopping noise when they fall, and some burst open releasing a sharp sweet scent that he smells with every breath. At the same time, Areo could hear small children splashing in the pools and fountains of the Water Gardens.
The overripe and bursting fruit, and the splashing children symbolize the two Houses that Tywin Lannister destroyed: The Tarbecks, and the Reynes of Castamere. Both were bannermen. Both borrowed money from their leige lord of Lannister. Both took advantage of Tytos’s weakness, and both ignored Tywin’s demands for repayment. Roger Reyne even reportedly laughed when he read Tywin’s edicts and councilled his friends and vassals to do nothing. If Areo heard the oranges and children in the water, then Ser Gregor was likely with Tywin when those two families were destroyed.
The Tarbecks - bursting fruit
Rather than starve out Tarbeck Hall, Tywin used siege engines to destroy it’s keep, bursting it open, and it collapsed on Lady Ellyn Tarbeck and her son, Tion the Red. Then he ordered the castle put to the torch (blood-orange flames).
The Reynes - splashing water
Named after a nearby pool of water, Castamere began as a mine like Casterley Rock. Nine-tenths of the castle was subterranean. Tywin had the entrances buried beneath stone, and then dammed the pool’s stream and diverted it into a mine entrance, flooding the underground chambers.
The overripe blood oranges could also apply to Tywin’s plans to remove Aerys II from the Iron Throne and wipe out the Targaryen line. The water gardens represent a pregnant mother about to give birth. Think about the plan to overthrow Aerys as Tywin’s baby developing in the womb. The seeds were planted, the garden carefully tended, the patience while his child grows in an embriotic sac filled with water. The plan develops and soon the labor pangs come. In Tywin’s mind the birth is long overdue.
Doran Martell’s gout represents Tywin’s need to dominate, cause fear, inflict pain, and demand respect. GRRM humorously describes to the two largest, sorest lumps on Doran’s knees as an apple and a melon. IMO the melon represents Aerys and the apple is Rhaegar, since apples don’t fall far from the tree.
Prince Doran held the letter in his lap all afternoon without breaking the seal. He sat watching the children until the sun went down and the evening air grew cool, and then he watched the starlight on the water. It was moonrise before he sent Hotah to fetch a candle so that he might read the news about Oberyn’s death beneath the orange trees in the dark of night. Obara had told Hotah that everywhere, everywhere, women tear their hair and men cry out in rage.
The Reynes took refuge at Castamere, their subterranean seat which had developed from gold and silver mines. With ample food in storage, Ser Reynard Reyne abandoned the surface fortifications once his soldiers were in Castamere’s tunnels. Tywin ordered the entrances sealed with tons of stone, earth, and soil so that there was no way in or out. Over the course of three days, Tywin had his men dam a nearby stream and divert it to the mine entrance. Water easily found it’s way through the tiny gaps in the rubble. None of the three hundred men, women, and children within emerged from the tunnels.
We need to keep in mind the fate of the Reynes of Castamere to understand what Tywin is thinking and what he was capable of. When Tywin read the letter about Rickard and Brandon’s death and how Aerys declared Trial by Battle, Tywin reflects about how he wiped out the Reynes and how he now is planning to wipe out the Targaryens.
Captain Hotah next hears boots on marble and we meet Obara, one of Oberyn Martell’s bastard daughters and the eldest of the Sand Snakes. She’s a big-boned woman near to thirty, long-legged, with close-set eyes and rat-brown hair. She’s hot-tempered, strong, and quick, and she arrived on horseback. Her horse would be lathered, and bloody from her spurs. She always rode stallions, and had been heard to boast that she could master any horse in Dorne.
Lyanna is described by all to be beautiful, but her brother Eddard refers to her as wolf-blooded, headstrong, willful, courageous, and hot-tempered. She’s a skilled rider, and Harwin whose father was master of horse compared Arya’s riding skills to hers…so she rides like a northman and loved to ride. Barbery Dustin described Lyanna as a centaur and that she was half a horse herself.
Obara has come to meet with Doran to demand vengence for her father’s death. Areo notes that Obara always walked too fast. She is chasing after something she can never catch, the prince had told his daughter once, in the captain’s hearing.
Lyanna has come looking for Tywin to demand vengence for her father and brother’s deaths. Areo’s words about Obara chasing something makes me think that Tywin was reassuring Cersei about something. What was Lyanna chasing that would worry Cersei? It would be tempting to insert Rhaegar here, but remember Tywin already planned to kill both Aerys and Rhaegar, so I think they are discussing the position of Queen. Cersei is concerned about Lyanna’s betrothal to Robert, but Tywin assures Cersei that Lyanna will never be Queen.
Obara informs Areo Hotah that thousands are crossing the sands on foot just to help bring Oberyn home, that the septs are packed to bursting, and in the pillow houses women are coupling with men for free.
Lyanna informs Ser Ilyn Payne that thousands of northmen are crossing the Trident on foot just to bring Rickard and Brandon home.
There are eight Sand Snakes, but only three were arrested and kept in a tower. Sarella was at Oldtown, and the four youngest were isolated at the Water Gardens with their mother to prevent them from being used in any plots.
This chapter suggests that three women came separately to Tywin after the deaths of Brandon and Rickard: Lyanna, Ashara, and Elia. All three are arrested, all three are associated with towers, and all three died. Things are not looking so good for the Sand Snakes.
After the war of the Ninepenny Kings, Tywin tried to quell rebellious lords by demanding repayment of loans. Walderan Tarbeck rode to Casterly Rock to address Tytos, but Tywin had him imprisoned. In response, his wife Ellyn took three Lannisters hostage, including Stafford Lannister. Ellyn let Tytos know that she would kill the Lannister hostages if he harmed her husband. Although Tywin advised to send Walderan back in three pieces, Tytos insisted upon a peaceful solution. Tywin and his brother Kevan took hostages from every family that owed them money until their loans were repaid. One hostage, Dorna Harys ended up marrying Kevan.
She shall not pass, he told himself, and said, “The prince is watching the children at their play. He is never to be disturbed when he is watching children at their play.”
It’s not difficult to imagine Ser Ilyn Payne saying much of the same to Lyanna, and the comment about the children was likely something more in the form of a warning…a reference to Castamere.
I am including the dialog between Obara and Doran, and if you choose to read it, pretend as if it were Lyanna and Tywin. The maester is of course, Pycelle.
“The prince does not wish to be disturbed.”
Her face had been stone before he spoke; then it hardened. “You are in my way, Hotah.” Beneath a mottled sandsilk cloak of dun and gold, her riding clothes were old brown leather, worn and supple. They were the softest things about her. On one hip she wore a coiled whip, across her back a round shield of steel and copper. She had left her spear outside. For that, Areo Hotah gave thanks. Quick and strong as she was, the woman was no match for him, he knew . . . but she did not, and he had no wish to see her blood upon the pale pink marble.
Maester Caleotte shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Lady Obara, I tried to tell you . . .”
“Does he know that my father and brother are dead?” Obara asked the captain, paying the maester no more mind than she would a fly, if any fly had been foolish enough to buzz about her head.
“He does,” the captain said. “He had a bird.”
(Later on when Doran agrees to see her)
“Captain,” came the command, from behind. “Let her pass. I will speak with her.” The prince’s voice was hoarse.
Areo Hotah jerked his longaxe upright and stepped to one side. Obara gave him a lingering last look and strode past, the maester hurrying at her heels. Caleotte was no more than five feet tall and bald as an egg. His face was so smooth and fat that it was hard to tell his age, but he had been here before the captain, had even served the prince’s mother. Despite his age and girth, he was still nimble enough, and clever as they came, but meek. He is no match for any Sand Snake, the captain thought.
In the shade of the orange trees, the prince sat in his chair with his gouty legs propped up before him, and heavy bags beneath his eyes . . . though whether it was grief or gout that kept him sleepless, Hotah could not say. Below, in the fountains and the pools, the children were still at their play. The youngest were no more than five, the oldest nine and ten. Half were girls and half were boys. Hotah could hear them splashing and shouting at each other in high, shrill voices.
(later on)
“My father has been murdered.”
“He was slain in single combat during a trial by battle,” Prince Doran said. “By law, that is no murder.”
“He was your supporter.”
“He was.”
“What do you mean to do about his death?”
The prince turned his chair laboriously to face her. Though he was but two-and-fifty, Doran Martell seemed much older. His body was soft and shapeless beneath his linen robes, and his legs were hard to look upon. The gout had swollen and reddened his joints grotesquely; his left knee was an apple, his right a melon, and his toes had turned to dark red grapes, so ripe it seemed as though a touch would burst them. Even the weight of a coverlet could make him shudder, though he bore the pain without complaint. Silence is a prince’s friend, the captain had heard him tell his daughter once. Words are like arrows, Arienne. Once loosed, you cannot call them back. “I have written to Lord Tywin—”
“Written? If you were half the man my father was—”
“I am not your father.”
“That I knew.” Obara’s voice was thick with contempt.
“You would have me go to war.”
“I know better. You need not even leave your chair. Let me avenge my father. You have a host in the Prince’s Pass. Lord Yronwood has another in the Boneway. Grant me the one and Nym the other. Let her ride the kingsroad, whilst I turn the river lords out of their castles and hook round to march on Oldtown.”
“And how could you hope to hold Oldtown?”
“It will be enough to sack it. The wealth of Oldtown—”
“Is it gold you want?”
“It is blood I want.”
“Lord Tywin shall deliver us the Mountain’s head.”
“And who will deliver us Lord Tywin’s head? The Mountain has always been his pet.”
The prince gestured toward the pools. “Obara, look at the children, if it please you.”
“It does not please me. I’d get more pleasure from driving my spear into Lord Tywin’s belly. I’ll make him sing ‘The Rains of Castamere’ as I pull his bowels out and look for gold.”
“Look,” the prince repeated. “I command you.”…..
Doran demands several times that Obara look at the children playing, and he reminds her that she was once a child swimming in the Water Gardens. He gestured towards the pools and asks her again to look at the children, if it pleases her. Obara said it didn’t please her, but she would be happy if she could kill Tywin herself.
I think Obara and Doran’s discussion about the children in the water garden symbolize the conversation that Tywin and Lyanna had. He likely reminded her about what he did to the Reynes of Castamere and asks if she’d be pleased if he did the same to the Targaryens, but Lyanna says she’d get more pleasure if she killed Aerys herself. When Doran tells Obara that Tywin said he’d deliver the Mountain’s head it mirrors when Tywin told Lyanna that Rhaegar promised to get rid of Aerys, but Lyanna counters with who will deliver us Rhaegar’s head? So much for romance!
Doran tells Obara that her father played in the water gardens too, ten years after he did. Which is very suggestive of Rickard. Doran said he oft saw him topple boys much bigger than himself.
After Obara leaves, Maester Caleotte questions Doran whether it’s prudent to allow Obara to return to Sunspear? She was certain to inflame the common people as they loved Oberyn well.
After Lyanna leaves, Maester Pycelle questions Tywin whether it’s prudent to allow Lyanna to leave Kings Landing? She was certain to inflame the northmen as they loved Rickard well.
Doran comments that he loved Oberyn, and that he must return to Sunspear as well. Caleotte asks him if that is wise. Doran says it’s not wise, but necessary. He instructs Caleotte to send a rider to Ricasso to prepare his apartments in the Tower of the Sun, and inform his daughter, Arienne that he will be there the next day.
It appears that Tywin had some affection for Rickard, like a brother as evidenced by Doran’s love for Oberyn. He tells Pycelle that he must leave Kings Landing. Pycelle asks him if that is wise. Tywin answers that it wasn’t wise, but necessary. He instructs Pycelle to send a rider to Casterly Rock to inform his daughter, Cersei that he is coming home and he leaves the Tower of the Hand.
My little princess. The captain had missed her sorely. This was Areo’s thoughts regarding Arianne. I wonder if Ser Ilyn feels the same about Cersei?
Caleotte warns Doran that he will be seen. Likely Pycelle warned Tywin much the same way. Doran says he must be seen. Dorne needs to be reminded it still has a prince. It’s pure speculation on my part, but perhaps Tywin made all the appearances of returning to Casterly Rock, but went to Harrenhal instead? This is an idea that I had gotten from Some Pig, and would explain how quickly Tywin was able to march on Kings Landing after Rhaegar is killed on the Trident.
Caleotte says that if Doran returns to Sunspear, he’ll need to give audience to Princess Myrcella, that her white knight will be with her, and you know he sends letters to his queen.
"Princess Myrcella" is symbolic of the marriage pact between Robert Baratheon and Lyanna Stark, but it is also Robert and Cersei since Cersei ended up marrying him. I am tempted to identify the white knight as Ser Arthur Dayne, but after completing a the future inversion chapter, The Queenmaker, I know that Arys Oakheart's inversion is Robert Baratheon. Robert is with Lyanna, but writes to Cersei. Jaime could also possibly be the white knight and the letters he writes are also to his Queen Cersei. Symbolically she was his Queen before she ever attained the position. Whoever the white knight is, Ser Ilyn holds this person in distain as mirrored by Areo’s distain for Arys Oakheart. If "Princess Mycelia" represents the once proposed marriage alliance between Martell and Lannister, then Pycelle is counseling Tywin to consider marrying Elia to Jaime after Aerys and Rhaegar are dead.
Areo Hotah thinks about Arys Oakheart, the white knight in this chapter. He thinks about how their names sound alike, but that’s where their likeness ends. Areo left his loyalty to Norvos behind and thinks Arys Oakheart should leave his loyalties to Kings Landing behind. Hotah also felt a certain sadness whenever he saw Arys, because he sensed that one day the two of them would fight, and on that day Oakheart would die. Areo also knows about Arys and Arianne.
The affair parallel sounds like Jaime and Cersei, and Ilyn may have wondered where Jaime’s loyalties lay: with the Kingsguard, or his father? I can also see how this would refer to a secret affair between Robert and Cersei...something that not many knew of other than her father and Maester Pycelle. Either Ilyn is worried about Tywin finding out about their incest, or he's concerned that it would ruin Tywin’s plans if anyone else were to find out about Robert and Cersei. Between the two choices it would be a much bigger deal if Robert and Cersei were sexually involved while he was yet engaged to Lyanna. If this proves true, it's the biggest betrayal in the whole series of books! An interesting detail that Areo foretells is slaying Arys. I think the inversion of this is that Ser Ilyn ends up as King Robert's executioner, so instead of killing Robert he kills on his behalf carrying out the King's Justice.
Doran wants to watch the children play in the water until it gets dark and the children are gone. He tells Areo to have his things ready by morning for the journey back to Sunspear. They talk about siblings. Doran asks about Areo’s siblings, and them tells him about his own. Doran talks about being so much older than his siblings, yet they’re all dead and he’s still alive. Areo talks about himself being the youngest, and thinks about himself as being unwanted.
Not much is known about Ser Ilyn's family, but I do see an inversion here for Gregor Clegane. Ser Gregor’s feelings about Sandor are that he was just another mouth to feed, a big boy who ate too much and soon outgrew his clothes. There were rumors that Gregor killed his father, sister, and his first two wives. Tywin wrested control of Casterly Rock from his father when he was yet a boy, because he felt his father was too weak. While his father played at being Lord, Tywin was killing the Reynes of Castamere.
Areo Hotah didn’t know what to say to Doran after he talked about his family. He reflects that he’s just a captain of guards and has been since he took his vows at the age of six-and-ten. This is the same age that Gregor became a Ser. Later on after Areo is lying in bed he thinks to himself, “I should have gathered up the oranges that fell.” Does this imply that Ser Gregor took it upon himself to act on some of Tywin’s plans? Like, perhaps when he killed Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon?
As he honed his axe, Hotah thought of his childhood home, the high city on the hill and the low part beside the river. He could still recall the sounds of the three bells and how they could set his very bones to shuddering.
I’m not sure, but I think the bell imagery is supposed to make us think about the Battle of the Bells, which was an early battle in the Rebellion, but being there are three bells, it could represent Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon again. I'll double-check the World Book to see if there's any mention of Ser Ilyn as being at the Battle of the Bells, and he may have been if he was guarding Tywin.
There is also some imagery with Areo’s recollections about being burned by a priest with his own axe, how painful it was, and how the hair never grew back where the axe burned him. This could be mirrored by how Gregor burned Sandor’s face when they were children.
When Doran was finally ready to leave the Water Gardens for Sunspear, halfway there Lady Nym catches up to them.
Before Tywin leaves Kings Landing, I am wondering if he met with Ashara Dayne?
Lady Nymeria Sand was five-and-twenty, slender, with straight black hair, dark eyes, high cheekbones, full lips, and milk-pale skin. She was very beautiful.
Ashara Dayne is described as tall, with long dark hair and haunting violet eyes. She had a reputation as a great beauty, and many men were infatuated with her.
Lady Nym asks Doran if it was true that Ser Gregor had killed Princess Elia and her children. Prince Doran admits that he roared out his guilt for all the court to hear. Lady Nym sarcastically responds that they are supposed to be satified that Tywin promises Gregor’s head? Then she asserts that Oberyn already was the cause of Gregor’s death as the poison he used on his spear will surely slowly kill him.
Hmmm. What could be Ashara’s concern here? We’ve already identified Oberyn as Rickard, and the Mountain in this chapter is King Aerys, so “Tywin” in this chapter is Rhaegar,. The conversation between Obara and Doran seems to imply that Ashara asserts that Aerys alone is guilty of the murders of Brandon and Rickard, but that Rhaegar is innocent.
Doran tells Lady Nym that Obara wants war.
Tywin tells Ashara that Lyanna wants him to kill both Aerys and Rhaegar.
Nym laughs and acknowledges that she knows that Obara wants to set the torch to Oldtown, that she hates that city as much as our little sister (Tyene) loves it. Doran asks how she feels about it and she confesses that she was with the Fowler twins when word of Oberyn’s death reached her, and she asks Doran if he knows the Fowler words? Let me soar! She says she doesn’t need a mighty host, only her sweet sister Tyene. She says Tyene is so sweet that no one would suspect her. She also mentions a Ser Daemon who informed her of the poison Oberyn used on the spear that tickled Gregor.
What can we decipher from the above paragraph? IMO it sounds like Ashara knew that someone was slowly poisoning King Aerys. She understands how badly Lyanna wants Aerys and Rhaegar dead, but they didn’t need an army to kill Aerys as the poison would eventually work. She implicates her “sister” Elia as being the one that was poisoning him, and that Elia was so sweet and gentle that no one suspected her. What's most concerning are the Fowler words, "Let me soar", which seem to imply that Ashara was pushed to her death.
Lady Nymeria doesn’t desire complete destruction of Oldtown, just four lives: Cersei, Jaime, Tywin, and Tommen.
Ashara doesn’t want complete destruction of “Oldtown” which is symbolic of the Targaryen dynasty in Kings Landing. She wants four lives: Rhaegar, Elia, Rhaenys, and Aegon, but is she asking for their deaths, or is she begging for their lives?
Doran objects to Nymeria asking for the “little king”. He asserts that the boy has never wronged us. Nymeria declares the boy is a bastard born of treason, incest, and adultery, if Lord Stannis is to be believed. Doran finds himself watching Nymeria through narrowed eyes. While Obara wore her weapon upon her hip and carried a spear where everyone could see, Lady Nym was no less deadly, though she kept her knives well hidden.
What is Ashara really saying regarding the babe, Aegon? She is specifically begging for Aegon’s life. Could it be that Aegon is actually her son? Tywin objects saying he’s a only a bastard born of treason, (incest?), and adultry. He narrows his eyes at Ashara and now sees her as a threat. He understands that while Ashara is a lady at court, she is no less deadly to his plans.
Lady Nym declares that only royal blood can wash out her father’s murder. Doran replies that Oberyn died during single combat, fighting in a matter that was none of his concern. He didn’t think that it was murder.
Ashara declares that Rhaegar shouldn’t be held responsible for Brandon and Rickard’s deaths, because Rickard asked for trial by combat. Tywin called it murder, and that Rhaegar needed to die along with Aerys.
Doran said he sent Oberyn to Kings Landing to investigate Elia’s murder. He instructed him to make note of their strengths and weaknesses, to find friends, but to take care not to provoke Lord Tywin unduly.
Sounds like Tywin advised Rickard before he went to Kings Landing. He instructed him in Aerys strengths and weaknesses, and who is friends were, and to take care not to provoke King Aerys unduly.
Lady Nym tells Doran that Oberyn waited 17 years to receive justice for Elia’s death.
Tywin was Hand for nearly 20 years of peace and plenty, but all those years Aerys became more and more jealous…of Tywin’s wife, his children, and his success. The common people believed that it was Tywin that actually ruled. When Jaime was 15 years old, Aerys robbed Tywin of his heir by appointing him to the Kingsguard. The gout of resentment grew between the two over the years.
Lady Nym declares that neither she, nor her sisters would wait as long as their father and Doran to take their vengence.
Ashara declare that neither she, nor Lyanna, nor Elia would wait for Tywin to make his move.
Doran leaves the towers of the Water Gardens and arrives at Sunspear which is described as built from mud and straw, and colored brown and dun. The stronghold stands at the easternmost end of a little jut of stone and sand surrounded on three sides by the sea. There’s a large dromond ship called the Sandship washed ashore.
Tywin leaves the towers of Kings Landing and arrives at Casterly Rock which is carved out of a great stone rock beside the Sunset Sea. The base of the rock contains large sea-carved caverns. The stone has been mined for years and mindshafts go down into the depths of the rock. Its port has docks, wharves, and shipyards. It is possible Tywin arrived there by ship.
Arianne was waiting for Doran when he arrived. She had half the court about her and twoscore of Dornish knights, and Little Myrcella stood alongside her septa, and Ser Arys of the Kingsguard.
Cersei was waiting for Tywin when he arrived. She had half the court about her and twoscore of knights. “Little Myrcella” stood alongside her septa, and Robert Baratheon. I cannot decide if "Little Myrcella" is meant to be Lyanna or Cersei here. It could just symbolize the secret marriage proposal between Robert and Cersei...the agreement Jon Arryn agreed to in order to gain Tywin's support in the Rebellion.
Princess Arianne greets her father, and Areo notices her beauty even for her young age. This is the second time Ser Ilyn thinks about Cersei in a romantic way.
Doran glances slowly around and says he doesn’t see Tyene. Arianne says Tyene wanted a private word so she sent her to the throne room to await his coming. Hotah desribes the great round chamber beneath the dome in the Tower of the Sun as having sunlight slanting down through thick windows of many-colored glass to dapple the pale marble floor.
The Rock has a Golden Gallery which contains the treasures of the Lannisters, including gilded ornaments and walls, and the Lion’s Mouth, which is the main entry into Casterly Rock. It’s an enormous natural cavern reaching two hundred feet high. It’s steps are wide enough for twenty riders. Both places could be symbolized by the chamber described in the POV chapter, but I think Tywin actually met with Elia before leaving Kings Landing.
Tyene was said to look as innocent as the Maid herself. She was holding some embroidery in one hand when Doran walks in, and a pair of golden needles in the other. Her hair was gold as well, and her eyes were deep blue pools.
Elia was said to be beautiful with dark hair, black eyes and olive skin. She was a gentle, good, and gracious lady, but frail and delicate. Barristan Selmy said she was also kind and clever, with a sweet wit. I haven’t figured out the symbolism of Tyene’s embroidery and golden needles, but there’s got to be a connection to Tywin there. I am wondering if Elia placed poison on the barbs of the Iron Throne? Aerys was known for cutting himself on the throne and even gained the nickname King Scab. Tyene says Dornishmen fight best at home, so I am thinking Elia fought her own war against Aerys slowly poisoning him in front of everyone's nose, right there inside the Red Keep.
Tyene and Doran discuss Myrcella and how they have her thanks to the Imp. Tyene wants to move up Trystane and Myrcella’s wedding and crown Myrcella Queen.
Elia’s mother, who was friends with Joanna Lannister, brought Oberyn and Elia to Casterly Rock with the idea of marrying one or both to Cersei and Jaime. Unfortunately, during their journey, Joanna died birthing Tyrion, and when the Martells arrived Tywin was unreceptive to the proposal. He told them that Cersei was meant for Rhaegar and that she would be Queen one day. Then, when Elia asked for Jaime, Tywin offered her Tyrion instead, which the Martells took as an insult. And like I proposed above, Tywin comes home already with Jon Arryn's proposal to marry Robert to Cersei.
Tyene asserts that Myrcella is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, because she’s older than Tommen.
Did Elia present Rhaenys to Tywin as Rhaegar’s heir? If so, then Tywin would have dismissed her assertions just like he dismissed Ashara’s importance placed on her bastard, Aegon.
Prince Doran is afraid of Tyene, because he fears she will poison him. Areo Hotah and Maester Caleotte take her just as seriously, and the maester examines Doran’s hand after he placed his hand upon her head in blessing.
If Tywin knew Elia was slowly poisoning Aerys, did he fear Elia might do the same to him? If Gregor was witness to all the conversations, did he believe Elia was capable and dangerous? It may have been a deciding factor in Gregor’s eyes when he thought about gathering up some of the overripe oranges himself.
After Tyene left, Doran turned to Areo and asked him about the loyalty of Areo’s men. He wants strict obedience. He wants him to arrest the Sand Snakes as quickly and quietly as possible without bloodshed. Areo then asks about Sarella. Doran says that unless she returns to Dorne from Oldtown, there’s nothing he can do about her.
After he meets with Elia, Tywin turns to Gregor and asks him about the loyalty of his men. He needs strict obedience. He commands the arrest of Lyanna, Ashara, and Elia, quickly, quietly, without bloodshed, but I think Gregor took it upon himself to "gather a few overripe oranges" himself. Gregor asks about “Sarella” (Rhaella?) Tywin says that if she were to leave Kings Landing, there’s nothing he can do about her. Leave her to her…game.
“It will be done.” The captain hesitated. “When this is known in the streets, the common folk will howl.”