Post by Melifeather on Feb 13, 2016 19:31:56 GMT
The Queenmaker - AFFC Chapter 21
9/3/2021 - Edited to add:
A discussion with Tucu on the Heresy thread on Westeros.org has slightly changed the focus on how I see these titled chapters. Imagine the characters as larger than life, exaggerated caricatures with cheesy scripts in bad movies.
In this chapter, GRRM described Darkstar's appearance like Cruella DeVille's:
Arianne watched him warily. He is highborn enough to make a worthy consort, she thought. Father would question my good sense, but our children would be as beautiful as dragonlords. If there was a handsomer man in Dorne she did not know him. Ser Gerold Dayne had an aquiline nose, high cheekbones a strong jaw. He kept his face clean-shaven, but his thick hair fell to his collar like a silver glacier, divided by a streak of midnight black. He has a cruel mouth, though, and a crueler tongue. His eyes seemed black as he sat outlined against the dying sun, sharpening his steel, but she had looked at them from a closer vantage and she knew that they were purple. Dark purple. Dark and angry.
GRRM gets quite corny with regards to Darkstar:
"Are you the Sword of the Morning now?"
"No. Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night."
Tucu pointed out that attitudes and events are exaggerated when characters are about to repeat a role from the past. They become mummers, "bad actors" really, and I think GRRM lets us know by providing stuff like this.
Part 1
Casterly Rock. If you change the first letter to E it becomes Easterly Rock. Is this intentional or just a coincidence? The basic premise of my wheel of time project is that the hinge of the Wall has been opened and Westeros has become a mirrored inversion. North is now south, east is now west. Casterly is now easterly.
We open up the chapter with a description of the burning sun of Dorne and how wealth was not only measured by gold, but by water. Wells of water are zealously guarded, and one at Shandystone had gone dry a hundred years before, its guardians having departed for some wetter place. Afterward the sands had crept back in to reclaim their own.
The Casterlys of old carved their home from a great colossal rock that was measured to be three times the height of the Wall and sits beside the Sunset Sea. There they mined gold for thousands of years, and there are deep mineshafts that mirror the wells of Dorne. At the base of the Rock are large sea caverns. The Casterlys are all gone now. It is said that Lann the Clever tricked them and claimed the castle for his own. What this trick entailed is not described, but the chapter says the guardians of Shadystone left for a wetter place. Maybe Lann the Clever drowned them out? Seems a very Lannister thing to do.
Arianne, Drey, and Sylva arrive to Shadystone just as the sun was setting. Garin and Darkstar were already there when they arrived. Drey comments on the loveliness of the place and asks how Arianne knew of it. She replied that her “uncle” brought her there along with Tyene and Sarella. There he caught some vipers and showed Tyene how to milk their venom. Sarella turned over rocks, brushed sand off the mosaics, and wanted to know everything there was to know about the people who lived there.
What do you suppose the symbolism is to have “uncle” show Tyene (Elia) how to milk vipers, and Sarella (Rhaella) turning over rocks? I think this is either Kevan Lannister or Lewyn Martell as the "uncle", Elia, Cersei, and Rhaella meeting to discuss the kidnapping plan. Rhaella was full of questions, went over possible scenerios, and made suggestions.
Spotted Sylva asked Arianne what she did while her uncle caught snakes. She thinks to herself, I sat beside the well and pretended that some robber knight had brought me here to have his way with me, she thought, a tall hard man with black eyes and a widow’s peak. The memory made her uneasy. “I dreamed, “ she said, “and when the sun went down I sat cross-legged at my uncle’s feet and begged him for a story.”
In old movies, didn't we know who the bad guy was by their appearance? Typically he'd wear black, maybe a black handlebar mustache, and sleek black hair with a widow's peak.
To help us work this out lets try to insert some of the inverted characters that we’ve identified from previous chapters:
Arianne = Cersei Lannister
Tyene = Elia Targaryen
Sarella = Rhaella Targaryen
Arys Oakheart, also robber knight = Lewyn Martell and/or Robert Baratheon.
In case you have already read the Soiled Knight and are just now reading this, I have completed a revision on that chapter. Initially I thought our Soiled Knight was Lewyn Martell, because he's Elia's relation and a Kingsguard, but I was troubled that his home wasn't an inversion to Old Oak. My theory is based on the mirrored inversion of locations and Old Oak is the mirrored inversion of Storm's End and home to Robert Baratheon.
The robber knight caricature is a fake story to cover the actual kidnapping. The black eyes and widow's peak does sound like a Martell, but I think it's meant as the classic stereotype of "the villain". The true villain of Lyanna's kidnapping story is Robert Baratheon, and through these inversion chapter essays I will lay out the supporting evidence.
The fantasy that Arianne had about the robber knight along with the current scene at the well of Shadystone is meant to mirror both the attack by the Kingswood Brotherhood on Elia in which Ser Gerold Hightower was injured, and the later detachment sent out by King Aerys II to deal with the bandits. I find it interesting that they’re meeting at a well, since Cersei is thought to have pushed her friend Melara down a well.
The Kingswood Brotherhood was an infamous outlaw organization that gained notoriety by kidnapping nobles and holding them for ransom. It does bear mentioning that Kevan has been known to also kidnap nobles and hold them ransom until debtor's families repaid what was owed the Lannisters. The (fake) attack on Elia prompted Aerys II to send a detachment of soldiers led by Ser Arthur Dayne, since Hightower was injured. The participants in the kidnapping plot only took advantage of current events to create a believable story to conceal Lyanna’s abduction.
The members of the later detachment include:
Ser Arthur Dayne - who led in Ser Hightower’s place
Ser Barristan Selmy
Lord Sumner Crakehall
Squire Merrett Frey
Squire Jaime Lannister
Known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood:
Simon Toyne - was the leader of the KWB
Smiling Knight - Jaime called him “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, but twice as mad.”
Wenda the White Fawn - many readers theorize that she was Lyanna
Oswyn Longneck - the Thrice-Hanged
Big Belly Ben - nearly killed Lord Crakehall, but was deterred by Jaime. Ben escaped capture.
Fletcher Dick - unknown fate
Ulmer - captured and sent to the Wall
Let us return to this last part:
The memory made her uneasy. “I dreamed, “ she said, “and when the sun went down I sat cross-legged at my uncle’s feet and begged him for a story.”
What “story” would Cersei be asking her “uncle” for? Kidnapper Kevan is obviously Cersei's uncle, but also Cersei’s aunt Genna is married to Emmon Frey, who is half-brother to Merrett, so technically Merrett is Cerise’s uncle too. I should point out that Merrett took a hit in the head by a mace and he hasn't been right since. Lord Crakehall dismissed him as a squire after the attack and sent him home to the Twins. I think that mace hit took away his true memory of this event.
Was Wenda the White Fawn actually a member of the Kingswood Brotherhood, or was this just the story? Merrett Frey reports being captured by the KWB and that Wenda branded her trademark, a fawn, onto the cheek of his ass. That’s the kind of crazy story that the common people would love to repeat, because it’s so provocative and exactly why I am wary to believe it.
Recall in The Soiled Knight analysis that Tywin told "Kevan-Lewyn-Robert" that Lyanna’s kidnapping could not happen while under his protection, so there needed to be a way for Lyanna to disappear, but without any connection to them or Tywin. The crazy story about Wenda the White Fawn was just the ticket.
“Prince Oberyn was full of stories.” Garin had been with them as well that day; he was Arianne’s milk brother, and they had been inseparable since before they learned to walk. “He told about Prince Garin, I remember, the one that I was named for.”
“Garin the Great,” offered Drey, “the wonder of the Rhoyne.”
From the quote above it appears that Garin is meant to be Jaime since he’s obviously Cersei’s milk brother and her twin. “The great” points to his infamous nickname “Kingslayer”. At this point in the story he hasn’t killed Aerys II yet, so this is in reference to the future slaying.
The historical Garin the Great was a Rhoynish Prince of Chroyane that led 250,000 men to their deaths in an attempt to stop the Valyrians in the Second Spice War. He was named the “the Great” for making Valyria tremble. According to legend the Valyrians hung him in a golden cage and mocked him while he called upon Mother Rhoyne to destroy them. That night the river Rhoyne rose and drowned all the invaders of Chroyane.
Jaime is Garin the Great if we take into consideration his father’s use of water to destroy the Reynes of Castamere, Cersei’s connection to drowning her friend Melara in a well, and the possibility that their ancestor Lann the Clever drowned the Casterlys. The use of a “golden” cage further connects Garin to the Jaime because of the Lannister's connection to gold and since he later dons his golden armor when he slew Aerys II.
9/3/2021 Edited to add:
There seems to be alot of bad scripting going around. The exaggerated characters are "bad actors" thus the Cruella DeVille description and the "I am of the night" line. Circling back to the Knight of Skulls and Kisses...he could be interpreted as giving the "kiss of death", deadly kisses, or poisonous kisses.
In the Queenmaker chapter there's "Garin the Great, wonder of the Rhoyne". Garin is Arianne's milk brother even though he's an orphan of the Greenblood. I think he's a mummer playing Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer. Recall that the ancient Garin from the Rhoyne drowned in a golden cage. Jaime wore his golden armor when he slew King Aerys. This was the final blow that signaled the end of the Rebellion. If you think about it, the "orphans of the Rhoyne" could be another play title for the rebel houses that had lost their king. People question where Tywin's loyalties lay. Was he an orphan or was he a loyalist? Arianne's milk brother was an orphan raised in a castle - a duality that suggests Jaime was a double-agent. Cue the music....Secret Agent Man!
There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every move he makes
Another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
Secret Agent Man!
Secret Agent Man!
They've given you a number and taken away your name
Beware of pretty faces that you find
A pretty face can hide an evil mind
Oh, be careful what you say
Or you'll give yourself away
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow
Secret Agent Man!
Secret Agent Man!
They've given you a number and taken away your name (Aerys tried to take Tywin's heir away)
Swinging on the Riviera one day - (one day he's with the loyalists)
And then laying in a Bombay alley next day - (the next day he's with the rebels)
Oh, don't you let the wrong words slip
While kissing persuasive lips - (doing Cersei's bidding)
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow
Secret Agent Man!
Secret Agent Man!
They've given you a number and taken away your name
Garin entertained Arianne's group with:
"the latest tales from the Planky Town at the mouth of the Greenblood, where the orphans of the river came to trade with the carracks, dogs, and galleys from across the narrow sea..."
How does someone get across a small river or creek? You throw a plank across so you can go over. "Planky Town" therefore is likely the Twin Towers bridge where the Freys live on the Green Fork. It's an exaggeration to compare their stronghold to a plank, but it shouldn't be surprising that Walder Frey would be feeding the Lannisters information about the rebel houses. He was Hoster Tully's bannerman and not only is Emmon Frey married to Genna Lannister, Merrett Frey was a squire to Sumner Crakehall along side Jaime Lannister.
(end of edited thoughts added 9/3/2021 and back to those from 2016)
Gerold Dayne derides the story of Garin the Great questioning if he had led a quarter million men to their deaths would they call him Gerold the Great? He snorted. “I shall remain Darkstar, I think. At least it is mine own.” Implying that the man that is mirroring Darkstar is actually Ser Gerold Hightower and not Arthur Dayne like I was expecting. Hightower was loyal to a mad king, but it seems he thought Tywin even worse. The reference to Garin the Great is our connection to the mass murders Tywin committed against the Reynes of Castamere. Arianne reminds her friends that they needed Darkstar and the support of his house, High Hermitage, which echoes House Hightower. The repeated use of the name “Gerold” and the reference to “High” Hermitage has convinced me that he is mirroring Ser Gerold Hightower. It also makes sense, because the group that was attacked was led by Gerold Hightower, while the second detachment was led by Arthur Dayne.
Arianne watched Darkstar warily and thinks that he is highborn enough to make a worthy consort, but he has a cruel mouth, and a crueler tongue. This seems to confirm that Hightower was deriding Jaime, since Cersei didn’t like what Ser Gerold was saying.
Darkstar felt Arianne looking at him, so he looks up from cleaning his sword, met her eyes, and smiled. Arianne blushes and thinks she should have never brought him. If he were to look at her like that when Arys is there, we will have blood on the sand. By tradition Kingsguard are the finest knights in the kingdom, but Darkstar was Darkstar.
Sounds like Ser Gerold Hightower was immune to Cersei’s advances, try as she might. That didn’t stop Cersei from considering whether or not she should have Robert kill him, but she reconsiders. Robert was a fine warrior, but he didn’t carry Dawn, which means he was no match for Ser Gerold.
We need to pause and figure out who Drey is. In the current story Drey is Ser Andrey Dalt, brother and heir of Ser Deziel Dalt who is the Knight of Lemonwood. He is also a close friend of Arianne, and he experiemented sexually with both Arianne and Tyene. After the conspiracy to crown Myrcella is exposed and the living members arrested, he is eventually condemned to exile for three years in Norvos under Lady Mellario’s service. Lady Mellario is the estranged wife of Prince Doran Martell. She returned to her home after a falling out with her husband about sending Quentyn to foster at Yronwood. I am wondering if we should consider Drey as mirroring Lem Lemoncloak since Drey is related to this Knight of Lemonwood? I realize Lem is also a current character, but me thinks he’s living under a false identity, as “Drey” should be someone close to Cersei and Elia. We’ll let that thought simmer on the backburner for now, but one thing seems clear: Drey is most likely the person that 'told'. His association with (sour) lemons and pissing is GRRM's way to symbolically inform us that Drey pissed all over Arianne's plans.
Drey lights a campfire, and once lit they all sat around the flames passing a skin of summerwine, all but Darkstar, who preferred to drink unsweetened lemonwater. Think of the ways “drink” has symbolically been used. We’ve seen trees, snows, and swords “drink” blood. Is it possible that Lem Lemoncloak and Ser Gerold Hightower fought? While I acknowledge that "drink" can refer to blood being shed, I think this is symbolic of a transformation. Arthur Dayne has a reputation for being the greatest knight that ever lived, and yet his white cloak is symbolically getting dirty...it's turning yellow. Now "yellow" can also signify cowardice, so we will have to learn more to see if Arthur is a coward or whether he intends to abandon his position as Kingsguard.
I also think since Darkstar drinks unsweetened lemon water and left to take a piss, that he either knew Drey "told" or he suspected it. It's likely the reason why he tried to get Arianne on board with killing Myrcella before they reached their destination. If he was confident that they would get away with the plan, there would be no desire to kill her. This explanation pushes the "cowardice" interpretation out of the picture and replaces it with someone who pissed all over someone's plan. It'll be interesting if Lem Lemoncloak does turn out to be an informer in hiding.
Garin repeats tales he’s heard from the Planky Town at the mouth of the Greenblood. Stories about the slave revolt in Astapor, dragons in Qarth, grey plague in Yi Ti, a new corsair king, red priests rioting, and oh yeah, the Golden Company broke its contract with Myr, just as the Myrmen were about to go to war with Lys.
We’ve already deciphered the symbolism behind the Golden Company breaking their contract and how this represents Jaime’s role in slaying Aerys. There’s a layering of meaning about the contract breaking…it could be both Jaime’s breaking of his Kingsguard vows, and Tywin’s breaking of his role as Hand to Aerys just as the Rebellion breaks out over the kidnapping of Lyanna. If Garin is telling these tales around the campfire, then the inversion would be the case with Jaime. He’s still a squire at this point, so again this is just a reference to his future.
We’ve got a couple more people to identify. Sylva Santagar, known as Spotted Sylva, and “the Lyseni”. Sylva suggests the reason why the Golden Company broke their contract was because the Lyseni bought them off. “Clever Lyseni,” Drey says, “Clever, craven Lyseni.” WTF!
Sylva Santagar is the heir of Ser Symon Santagar, the Knight of the Spottswood. Her nickname “Spotted” is from her freckles and also because she’s heir to Spottswood. After the conspiracy plot is foiled, she is first captured then betrothed to the aged Lord Eldon of Estermont and sent to Greenstone to marry. Since old Lord Estermont was one of the insulting matches Prince Doran proposed to Arianne, we need to look at Cersei to find her Spotted friend.
Melara Hetherspoon was Cersei’s eleven year old childhood friend. She was slender and pretty, though she had freckles. Cersei remembers her as “healthy as a little horse”, which could be another reference to Lyanna, and that she was bold, bolder than Jeyne Farman who fled when the three went to hear their futures from Maggy the Frog. Jeyne was terrified when Maggy opened her eyes to greet the visitors, and running away likely saved her life. Maggy told Melara that her death was close. Many years later, Cersei told Taena of Myr that Maggy’s prophecy was true, because Melara drowned in a well. Melara Hetherspoon is a metaphor for Cersei’s plans to get rid of Lyanna.
Another connection between Spotted Sylva and Melara Hetherspoon is Greenstone, the seat of House Estermont on the island of Estermont in the Stormlands. It is also the place Cersei believes she and Jaime conceived Joffrey.
The Lyseni come from Lys, also known as “Lys the Lovely” and according to semi-canon sources as the Perfumed Sister. It is one of the nine Free Cities of Essos. It is ruled by the very wealthy versus the nobility. It is regarded as beautiful, and more than anywhere else the blood of Old Valyria still exists. Many Targaryens and other Valyrian nobility looked for wives and paramours in Lys. With this knowlegdge of Lys, it may be symbolic of Cersei and Jaime’s night of passion that convinced him to go along with Cersei’s plans. Drey tells Arianne, “Clever Lyseni. Clever, craven Lyseni.” This means that “Drey” knew of Cersei’s plans.
Arianne knew better. If Quentyn has the Golden Company behind him…”Beneath the gold the bitter steel,” was their cry. You will need bitter steel and more, brother, if you think to set me aside. Arianne was loved in Dorne, Quentyn little known. No company of sellswords could change that.
Cersei knew better. If Jaime was instructed by their father to kill Aerys II, he’ll need more than just his sword to help Cersei get what she wants. She prevented Jaime from becoming Tywin’s heir, and disregarding even that victory her sights were set on the throne, but she thought she needed more than Aery’s assassination to put her there. She needed to remove Lyanna from the picture.
Darkstar excuses himself from the campfire to “have a piss”. Drey cautions him to watch for venomous snakes. Darkstar replies he has been weaned on venom, and disappears. Snakes symbolize dual expression of good and evil, and sexual desires. Was the “venomous snake” an argument over a woman? We have Darkstar pissing after drinking lemon water. I've revised my thoughts on the meaning of this leaving the campfire to have a piss. I think when he leaves the campfire he's Gerold Dayne, but when he comes back he's Arthur Dayne. This matches the actual events with Gerold Hightower leading Elia's group, while Arthur Dayne lead the detachment that was sent to arrest the Kingswood Brotherhood, because Hightower was injured in the original attack.
While Darkstar is gone Garin says to Arianne that he doesn’t like him, which means Jaime tells Cersei that he doesn’t like Ser Gerold. Drey says, “a pity. I believe he’s half in love with you.” Translation: Lem brought up that he’d noticed Gerold doesn’t like Cersei. Arianne reminds the group that they needed Darkstar and his sword, and they surely needed his castle High Hermitage. This is Cersei reminding the group that they needed Ser Gerold and his sword, and the support of House Hightower.
Spotted Sylva brings up that Darkstar isn’t the only knight that loves Arianne…she points out that Drey is a knight. “I am,” he affirmed. “I have a wonderful horse and a very fine sword, and my valor is second to…well, several, actually.” “More like several hundred, ser, “ said Garin.
GRRM is being cute here in describing Drey as having a “very fine sword”, since I am now quite convinced that Drey is Ser Arthur Dayne, and it’s possible that his wonderful horse means that he took possession of Lyanna. The fact that “Spotted Sylva” is the one to bring up Drey makes me think that this is symbolic of Arthur having taken a soon to be dead girl. This makes me think of Syrio telling Arya that she too was a "dead girl". Recall that we’ve already identified Sylva as Cersei’s dead friend, Melara. And comparing his valor as being second to several, well it sounds like he’s putting the realm ahead of his personal safety by being part of a group not unlike the Kingswood Brotherhood…the Brotherhood Without Banners.
9/3/2021 - Edited to add:
A discussion with Tucu on the Heresy thread on Westeros.org has slightly changed the focus on how I see these titled chapters. Imagine the characters as larger than life, exaggerated caricatures with cheesy scripts in bad movies.
In this chapter, GRRM described Darkstar's appearance like Cruella DeVille's:
Arianne watched him warily. He is highborn enough to make a worthy consort, she thought. Father would question my good sense, but our children would be as beautiful as dragonlords. If there was a handsomer man in Dorne she did not know him. Ser Gerold Dayne had an aquiline nose, high cheekbones a strong jaw. He kept his face clean-shaven, but his thick hair fell to his collar like a silver glacier, divided by a streak of midnight black. He has a cruel mouth, though, and a crueler tongue. His eyes seemed black as he sat outlined against the dying sun, sharpening his steel, but she had looked at them from a closer vantage and she knew that they were purple. Dark purple. Dark and angry.
GRRM gets quite corny with regards to Darkstar:
"Are you the Sword of the Morning now?"
"No. Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night."
Tucu pointed out that attitudes and events are exaggerated when characters are about to repeat a role from the past. They become mummers, "bad actors" really, and I think GRRM lets us know by providing stuff like this.
Part 1
Casterly Rock. If you change the first letter to E it becomes Easterly Rock. Is this intentional or just a coincidence? The basic premise of my wheel of time project is that the hinge of the Wall has been opened and Westeros has become a mirrored inversion. North is now south, east is now west. Casterly is now easterly.
We open up the chapter with a description of the burning sun of Dorne and how wealth was not only measured by gold, but by water. Wells of water are zealously guarded, and one at Shandystone had gone dry a hundred years before, its guardians having departed for some wetter place. Afterward the sands had crept back in to reclaim their own.
The Casterlys of old carved their home from a great colossal rock that was measured to be three times the height of the Wall and sits beside the Sunset Sea. There they mined gold for thousands of years, and there are deep mineshafts that mirror the wells of Dorne. At the base of the Rock are large sea caverns. The Casterlys are all gone now. It is said that Lann the Clever tricked them and claimed the castle for his own. What this trick entailed is not described, but the chapter says the guardians of Shadystone left for a wetter place. Maybe Lann the Clever drowned them out? Seems a very Lannister thing to do.
Arianne, Drey, and Sylva arrive to Shadystone just as the sun was setting. Garin and Darkstar were already there when they arrived. Drey comments on the loveliness of the place and asks how Arianne knew of it. She replied that her “uncle” brought her there along with Tyene and Sarella. There he caught some vipers and showed Tyene how to milk their venom. Sarella turned over rocks, brushed sand off the mosaics, and wanted to know everything there was to know about the people who lived there.
What do you suppose the symbolism is to have “uncle” show Tyene (Elia) how to milk vipers, and Sarella (Rhaella) turning over rocks? I think this is either Kevan Lannister or Lewyn Martell as the "uncle", Elia, Cersei, and Rhaella meeting to discuss the kidnapping plan. Rhaella was full of questions, went over possible scenerios, and made suggestions.
Spotted Sylva asked Arianne what she did while her uncle caught snakes. She thinks to herself, I sat beside the well and pretended that some robber knight had brought me here to have his way with me, she thought, a tall hard man with black eyes and a widow’s peak. The memory made her uneasy. “I dreamed, “ she said, “and when the sun went down I sat cross-legged at my uncle’s feet and begged him for a story.”
In old movies, didn't we know who the bad guy was by their appearance? Typically he'd wear black, maybe a black handlebar mustache, and sleek black hair with a widow's peak.
To help us work this out lets try to insert some of the inverted characters that we’ve identified from previous chapters:
Arianne = Cersei Lannister
Tyene = Elia Targaryen
Sarella = Rhaella Targaryen
Arys Oakheart, also robber knight = Lewyn Martell and/or Robert Baratheon.
In case you have already read the Soiled Knight and are just now reading this, I have completed a revision on that chapter. Initially I thought our Soiled Knight was Lewyn Martell, because he's Elia's relation and a Kingsguard, but I was troubled that his home wasn't an inversion to Old Oak. My theory is based on the mirrored inversion of locations and Old Oak is the mirrored inversion of Storm's End and home to Robert Baratheon.
The robber knight caricature is a fake story to cover the actual kidnapping. The black eyes and widow's peak does sound like a Martell, but I think it's meant as the classic stereotype of "the villain". The true villain of Lyanna's kidnapping story is Robert Baratheon, and through these inversion chapter essays I will lay out the supporting evidence.
The fantasy that Arianne had about the robber knight along with the current scene at the well of Shadystone is meant to mirror both the attack by the Kingswood Brotherhood on Elia in which Ser Gerold Hightower was injured, and the later detachment sent out by King Aerys II to deal with the bandits. I find it interesting that they’re meeting at a well, since Cersei is thought to have pushed her friend Melara down a well.
The Kingswood Brotherhood was an infamous outlaw organization that gained notoriety by kidnapping nobles and holding them for ransom. It does bear mentioning that Kevan has been known to also kidnap nobles and hold them ransom until debtor's families repaid what was owed the Lannisters. The (fake) attack on Elia prompted Aerys II to send a detachment of soldiers led by Ser Arthur Dayne, since Hightower was injured. The participants in the kidnapping plot only took advantage of current events to create a believable story to conceal Lyanna’s abduction.
The members of the later detachment include:
Ser Arthur Dayne - who led in Ser Hightower’s place
Ser Barristan Selmy
Lord Sumner Crakehall
Squire Merrett Frey
Squire Jaime Lannister
Known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood:
Simon Toyne - was the leader of the KWB
Smiling Knight - Jaime called him “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, but twice as mad.”
Wenda the White Fawn - many readers theorize that she was Lyanna
Oswyn Longneck - the Thrice-Hanged
Big Belly Ben - nearly killed Lord Crakehall, but was deterred by Jaime. Ben escaped capture.
Fletcher Dick - unknown fate
Ulmer - captured and sent to the Wall
Let us return to this last part:
The memory made her uneasy. “I dreamed, “ she said, “and when the sun went down I sat cross-legged at my uncle’s feet and begged him for a story.”
What “story” would Cersei be asking her “uncle” for? Kidnapper Kevan is obviously Cersei's uncle, but also Cersei’s aunt Genna is married to Emmon Frey, who is half-brother to Merrett, so technically Merrett is Cerise’s uncle too. I should point out that Merrett took a hit in the head by a mace and he hasn't been right since. Lord Crakehall dismissed him as a squire after the attack and sent him home to the Twins. I think that mace hit took away his true memory of this event.
Was Wenda the White Fawn actually a member of the Kingswood Brotherhood, or was this just the story? Merrett Frey reports being captured by the KWB and that Wenda branded her trademark, a fawn, onto the cheek of his ass. That’s the kind of crazy story that the common people would love to repeat, because it’s so provocative and exactly why I am wary to believe it.
Recall in The Soiled Knight analysis that Tywin told "Kevan-Lewyn-Robert" that Lyanna’s kidnapping could not happen while under his protection, so there needed to be a way for Lyanna to disappear, but without any connection to them or Tywin. The crazy story about Wenda the White Fawn was just the ticket.
“Prince Oberyn was full of stories.” Garin had been with them as well that day; he was Arianne’s milk brother, and they had been inseparable since before they learned to walk. “He told about Prince Garin, I remember, the one that I was named for.”
“Garin the Great,” offered Drey, “the wonder of the Rhoyne.”
From the quote above it appears that Garin is meant to be Jaime since he’s obviously Cersei’s milk brother and her twin. “The great” points to his infamous nickname “Kingslayer”. At this point in the story he hasn’t killed Aerys II yet, so this is in reference to the future slaying.
The historical Garin the Great was a Rhoynish Prince of Chroyane that led 250,000 men to their deaths in an attempt to stop the Valyrians in the Second Spice War. He was named the “the Great” for making Valyria tremble. According to legend the Valyrians hung him in a golden cage and mocked him while he called upon Mother Rhoyne to destroy them. That night the river Rhoyne rose and drowned all the invaders of Chroyane.
Jaime is Garin the Great if we take into consideration his father’s use of water to destroy the Reynes of Castamere, Cersei’s connection to drowning her friend Melara in a well, and the possibility that their ancestor Lann the Clever drowned the Casterlys. The use of a “golden” cage further connects Garin to the Jaime because of the Lannister's connection to gold and since he later dons his golden armor when he slew Aerys II.
9/3/2021 Edited to add:
There seems to be alot of bad scripting going around. The exaggerated characters are "bad actors" thus the Cruella DeVille description and the "I am of the night" line. Circling back to the Knight of Skulls and Kisses...he could be interpreted as giving the "kiss of death", deadly kisses, or poisonous kisses.
In the Queenmaker chapter there's "Garin the Great, wonder of the Rhoyne". Garin is Arianne's milk brother even though he's an orphan of the Greenblood. I think he's a mummer playing Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer. Recall that the ancient Garin from the Rhoyne drowned in a golden cage. Jaime wore his golden armor when he slew King Aerys. This was the final blow that signaled the end of the Rebellion. If you think about it, the "orphans of the Rhoyne" could be another play title for the rebel houses that had lost their king. People question where Tywin's loyalties lay. Was he an orphan or was he a loyalist? Arianne's milk brother was an orphan raised in a castle - a duality that suggests Jaime was a double-agent. Cue the music....Secret Agent Man!
There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
With every move he makes
Another chance he takes
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
Secret Agent Man!
Secret Agent Man!
They've given you a number and taken away your name
Beware of pretty faces that you find
A pretty face can hide an evil mind
Oh, be careful what you say
Or you'll give yourself away
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow
Secret Agent Man!
Secret Agent Man!
They've given you a number and taken away your name (Aerys tried to take Tywin's heir away)
Swinging on the Riviera one day - (one day he's with the loyalists)
And then laying in a Bombay alley next day - (the next day he's with the rebels)
Oh, don't you let the wrong words slip
While kissing persuasive lips - (doing Cersei's bidding)
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow
Secret Agent Man!
Secret Agent Man!
They've given you a number and taken away your name
Garin entertained Arianne's group with:
"the latest tales from the Planky Town at the mouth of the Greenblood, where the orphans of the river came to trade with the carracks, dogs, and galleys from across the narrow sea..."
How does someone get across a small river or creek? You throw a plank across so you can go over. "Planky Town" therefore is likely the Twin Towers bridge where the Freys live on the Green Fork. It's an exaggeration to compare their stronghold to a plank, but it shouldn't be surprising that Walder Frey would be feeding the Lannisters information about the rebel houses. He was Hoster Tully's bannerman and not only is Emmon Frey married to Genna Lannister, Merrett Frey was a squire to Sumner Crakehall along side Jaime Lannister.
(end of edited thoughts added 9/3/2021 and back to those from 2016)
Gerold Dayne derides the story of Garin the Great questioning if he had led a quarter million men to their deaths would they call him Gerold the Great? He snorted. “I shall remain Darkstar, I think. At least it is mine own.” Implying that the man that is mirroring Darkstar is actually Ser Gerold Hightower and not Arthur Dayne like I was expecting. Hightower was loyal to a mad king, but it seems he thought Tywin even worse. The reference to Garin the Great is our connection to the mass murders Tywin committed against the Reynes of Castamere. Arianne reminds her friends that they needed Darkstar and the support of his house, High Hermitage, which echoes House Hightower. The repeated use of the name “Gerold” and the reference to “High” Hermitage has convinced me that he is mirroring Ser Gerold Hightower. It also makes sense, because the group that was attacked was led by Gerold Hightower, while the second detachment was led by Arthur Dayne.
Arianne watched Darkstar warily and thinks that he is highborn enough to make a worthy consort, but he has a cruel mouth, and a crueler tongue. This seems to confirm that Hightower was deriding Jaime, since Cersei didn’t like what Ser Gerold was saying.
Darkstar felt Arianne looking at him, so he looks up from cleaning his sword, met her eyes, and smiled. Arianne blushes and thinks she should have never brought him. If he were to look at her like that when Arys is there, we will have blood on the sand. By tradition Kingsguard are the finest knights in the kingdom, but Darkstar was Darkstar.
Sounds like Ser Gerold Hightower was immune to Cersei’s advances, try as she might. That didn’t stop Cersei from considering whether or not she should have Robert kill him, but she reconsiders. Robert was a fine warrior, but he didn’t carry Dawn, which means he was no match for Ser Gerold.
We need to pause and figure out who Drey is. In the current story Drey is Ser Andrey Dalt, brother and heir of Ser Deziel Dalt who is the Knight of Lemonwood. He is also a close friend of Arianne, and he experiemented sexually with both Arianne and Tyene. After the conspiracy to crown Myrcella is exposed and the living members arrested, he is eventually condemned to exile for three years in Norvos under Lady Mellario’s service. Lady Mellario is the estranged wife of Prince Doran Martell. She returned to her home after a falling out with her husband about sending Quentyn to foster at Yronwood. I am wondering if we should consider Drey as mirroring Lem Lemoncloak since Drey is related to this Knight of Lemonwood? I realize Lem is also a current character, but me thinks he’s living under a false identity, as “Drey” should be someone close to Cersei and Elia. We’ll let that thought simmer on the backburner for now, but one thing seems clear: Drey is most likely the person that 'told'. His association with (sour) lemons and pissing is GRRM's way to symbolically inform us that Drey pissed all over Arianne's plans.
Drey lights a campfire, and once lit they all sat around the flames passing a skin of summerwine, all but Darkstar, who preferred to drink unsweetened lemonwater. Think of the ways “drink” has symbolically been used. We’ve seen trees, snows, and swords “drink” blood. Is it possible that Lem Lemoncloak and Ser Gerold Hightower fought? While I acknowledge that "drink" can refer to blood being shed, I think this is symbolic of a transformation. Arthur Dayne has a reputation for being the greatest knight that ever lived, and yet his white cloak is symbolically getting dirty...it's turning yellow. Now "yellow" can also signify cowardice, so we will have to learn more to see if Arthur is a coward or whether he intends to abandon his position as Kingsguard.
I also think since Darkstar drinks unsweetened lemon water and left to take a piss, that he either knew Drey "told" or he suspected it. It's likely the reason why he tried to get Arianne on board with killing Myrcella before they reached their destination. If he was confident that they would get away with the plan, there would be no desire to kill her. This explanation pushes the "cowardice" interpretation out of the picture and replaces it with someone who pissed all over someone's plan. It'll be interesting if Lem Lemoncloak does turn out to be an informer in hiding.
Garin repeats tales he’s heard from the Planky Town at the mouth of the Greenblood. Stories about the slave revolt in Astapor, dragons in Qarth, grey plague in Yi Ti, a new corsair king, red priests rioting, and oh yeah, the Golden Company broke its contract with Myr, just as the Myrmen were about to go to war with Lys.
We’ve already deciphered the symbolism behind the Golden Company breaking their contract and how this represents Jaime’s role in slaying Aerys. There’s a layering of meaning about the contract breaking…it could be both Jaime’s breaking of his Kingsguard vows, and Tywin’s breaking of his role as Hand to Aerys just as the Rebellion breaks out over the kidnapping of Lyanna. If Garin is telling these tales around the campfire, then the inversion would be the case with Jaime. He’s still a squire at this point, so again this is just a reference to his future.
We’ve got a couple more people to identify. Sylva Santagar, known as Spotted Sylva, and “the Lyseni”. Sylva suggests the reason why the Golden Company broke their contract was because the Lyseni bought them off. “Clever Lyseni,” Drey says, “Clever, craven Lyseni.” WTF!
Sylva Santagar is the heir of Ser Symon Santagar, the Knight of the Spottswood. Her nickname “Spotted” is from her freckles and also because she’s heir to Spottswood. After the conspiracy plot is foiled, she is first captured then betrothed to the aged Lord Eldon of Estermont and sent to Greenstone to marry. Since old Lord Estermont was one of the insulting matches Prince Doran proposed to Arianne, we need to look at Cersei to find her Spotted friend.
Melara Hetherspoon was Cersei’s eleven year old childhood friend. She was slender and pretty, though she had freckles. Cersei remembers her as “healthy as a little horse”, which could be another reference to Lyanna, and that she was bold, bolder than Jeyne Farman who fled when the three went to hear their futures from Maggy the Frog. Jeyne was terrified when Maggy opened her eyes to greet the visitors, and running away likely saved her life. Maggy told Melara that her death was close. Many years later, Cersei told Taena of Myr that Maggy’s prophecy was true, because Melara drowned in a well. Melara Hetherspoon is a metaphor for Cersei’s plans to get rid of Lyanna.
Another connection between Spotted Sylva and Melara Hetherspoon is Greenstone, the seat of House Estermont on the island of Estermont in the Stormlands. It is also the place Cersei believes she and Jaime conceived Joffrey.
The Lyseni come from Lys, also known as “Lys the Lovely” and according to semi-canon sources as the Perfumed Sister. It is one of the nine Free Cities of Essos. It is ruled by the very wealthy versus the nobility. It is regarded as beautiful, and more than anywhere else the blood of Old Valyria still exists. Many Targaryens and other Valyrian nobility looked for wives and paramours in Lys. With this knowlegdge of Lys, it may be symbolic of Cersei and Jaime’s night of passion that convinced him to go along with Cersei’s plans. Drey tells Arianne, “Clever Lyseni. Clever, craven Lyseni.” This means that “Drey” knew of Cersei’s plans.
Arianne knew better. If Quentyn has the Golden Company behind him…”Beneath the gold the bitter steel,” was their cry. You will need bitter steel and more, brother, if you think to set me aside. Arianne was loved in Dorne, Quentyn little known. No company of sellswords could change that.
Cersei knew better. If Jaime was instructed by their father to kill Aerys II, he’ll need more than just his sword to help Cersei get what she wants. She prevented Jaime from becoming Tywin’s heir, and disregarding even that victory her sights were set on the throne, but she thought she needed more than Aery’s assassination to put her there. She needed to remove Lyanna from the picture.
Darkstar excuses himself from the campfire to “have a piss”. Drey cautions him to watch for venomous snakes. Darkstar replies he has been weaned on venom, and disappears. Snakes symbolize dual expression of good and evil, and sexual desires. Was the “venomous snake” an argument over a woman? We have Darkstar pissing after drinking lemon water. I've revised my thoughts on the meaning of this leaving the campfire to have a piss. I think when he leaves the campfire he's Gerold Dayne, but when he comes back he's Arthur Dayne. This matches the actual events with Gerold Hightower leading Elia's group, while Arthur Dayne lead the detachment that was sent to arrest the Kingswood Brotherhood, because Hightower was injured in the original attack.
While Darkstar is gone Garin says to Arianne that he doesn’t like him, which means Jaime tells Cersei that he doesn’t like Ser Gerold. Drey says, “a pity. I believe he’s half in love with you.” Translation: Lem brought up that he’d noticed Gerold doesn’t like Cersei. Arianne reminds the group that they needed Darkstar and his sword, and they surely needed his castle High Hermitage. This is Cersei reminding the group that they needed Ser Gerold and his sword, and the support of House Hightower.
Spotted Sylva brings up that Darkstar isn’t the only knight that loves Arianne…she points out that Drey is a knight. “I am,” he affirmed. “I have a wonderful horse and a very fine sword, and my valor is second to…well, several, actually.” “More like several hundred, ser, “ said Garin.
GRRM is being cute here in describing Drey as having a “very fine sword”, since I am now quite convinced that Drey is Ser Arthur Dayne, and it’s possible that his wonderful horse means that he took possession of Lyanna. The fact that “Spotted Sylva” is the one to bring up Drey makes me think that this is symbolic of Arthur having taken a soon to be dead girl. This makes me think of Syrio telling Arya that she too was a "dead girl". Recall that we’ve already identified Sylva as Cersei’s dead friend, Melara. And comparing his valor as being second to several, well it sounds like he’s putting the realm ahead of his personal safety by being part of a group not unlike the Kingswood Brotherhood…the Brotherhood Without Banners.