A Storm of Swords

“You, who killed your mother to come into the world? You are an ill-made, devious, disobedient, spiteful little creature full of envy, lust, and low cunning. Men’s laws give you the right to bear my name and display my colors, since I cannot prove that you are not mine. To teach me humility, the gods have condemned me to watch you waddle about wearing that proud lion that was my father’s sigil and his father’s before him. But neither gods nor men shall ever compel me to let you turn Casterly Rock into your whorehouse.”

Tywin spells out his hatred for his son Tyrion. Tywin’s spite for Tyrion is existential, stemming back to the circumstances of his birth. When Tyrion later confesses that he has been on trial all his life, he is responding directly to his father’s opinion of him in this passage. Throughout the novel, Tyrion tries to prove that he is more than that opinion, ultimately failing in the face of his father’s political machinery.

“‘They don’t much care for that beast o’ yours,’ Longspear Ryk said to Jon.

‘They’re dogs and he’s a wolf,’ said Jon. ‘They know he’s not their kind.’ No more than I am yours.”

Jon’s white dire wolf, Ghost, is symbolic of Jon’s many different ways of being an outsider. Just as Ghost is the only dire wolf to be a different color from his litter, so too has Jon always stood out, from his status as a child born out of wedlock during childhood, to his decision to join the Night’s Watch, to his position as a spy infiltrating the wildlings here. In this passage, the wildlings’ beasts antagonize Ghost, keeping him on guard since they outnumber him in spite of his size. This reflects the constant threat that Jon finds himself in among the wildlings, who are right to be skeptical of his true allegiances.

“‘It was the greatest treasure she had, and her gift to me.’ He swept the cloak back over his shoulders. ‘But at the Shadow Tower, I was given a new wool cloak from stores, black and black, and trimmed with black, to go with my black breeches and black boots, my black doublet and black mail. The new cloak had no frays nor rips nor tears…and most of all, no red.’”

Martin characterizes Mance Rayder with this anecdote, which provides his reasons for deserting the Night’s Watch. The central element of Mance’s story is the cloak he is gifted by the woman who mended his injuries, which the Night’s Watch order him to discard when he returns to duty. Mance’s preference for the gift cloak represents his opposition to the rules of the Night’s Watch, which refuses to consider extenuating circumstances in favor of a pointless rigidity, and which erases personal freedom in service of the nobles who hold power south of the Wall. The clash between personal freedom and honor becomes a recurring topic in Jon’s reflections as he considers staying with the wildlings to be with Ygritte.

“Love’s not always wise, I’ve learned. It can lead us to great folly, but we follow our hearts…wherever they take us.”

Catelyn Stark finds a mirror in her son, Robb; both have similarly subverted the expectations of their positions to satisfy personal desires. This passage foreshadows the revelation that Robb has married Jeyne Westerling, thus breaking the Starks’ agreement with the Freys. Robb admits to making a mistake, but does so while passing judgment on Catelyn for her crime—freeing Jaime Lannister to hopefully see the return of her daughters—to soften her inevitable criticism of him.

“I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror.”

This vision directly predicts Catelyn’s death at the Red Wedding, as well as her resurrection at the end of the novel. The dream of the old woman at High Heart identifies Catelyn as a fish, which is the sigil of Catelyn’s house of origin, the Tullys. This foreshadowing helps the reader to anticipate the violent shifts in Catelyn’s fate, allowing the ending to feel like a fulfillment of their expectations.

“‘Bricks and blood built Astapor,’ Whitebeard murmured at her side, ‘and bricks and blood her people […] The bricks of Astapor are red with the blood of the slaves who make them.’”

Arstan/Barristan’s recollection of an old rhyme about Astapor underscores the challenge Daenerys faces in toppling its enslavement-based social order. The underlying subtext of this passage is that Astapor’s economic system is so deeply ingrained that it has become part of the city’s cultural identity. This foreshadows Astapor’s return to its slavery past after Daenerys has moved on to other cities—a disappointment that pushes her to seek deeper reforms and learn how to actually rule at the end of the novel.

“‘You are wrong, my lord. He can choose to die a king.’

‘And us with him? Is that what you desire, Onion Knight?’

‘No. But I am the king’s man, and I will make no peace without his leave.’”

In this passage, Davos makes it clear that his loyalty to Stannis is built on admiration for his resolve. Although Stannis is deeply influenced by Melisandre and her compellingly powerful magic, Davos still sees Stannis as a man of principle, which inspires him to uphold similar moral standards. In this way, Davos is Seeking Honor in a Dishonorable World.

“Why do the gods make kings and queens, if not to protect the ones who can’t protect themselves?”

This question summarizes Daenerys’s character development in this novel. As she reckons with the shift in her trust of the past and her newfound power, Daenerys reassesses what it means to be a ruler over people. When she poses this question to Jorah, she sets herself up for the resolution of the novel, in which she decides to stop conquering and starts Using Leadership to Empower Others.

“Don’t lie, Sansa. I am malformed, scarred, and small, but […] abed, when the candles are blown out, I am made no worse than other men. In the dark, I am the Knight of Flowers […] I am generous. Loyal to those who are loyal to me. I’ve proven I’m no craven. And I am cleverer than most, surely wits count for something. I can even be kind. Kindness is not a habit with us Lannisters, I fear, but I know I have some somewhere. I could be…I could be good to you.”

The tragedy of Tyrion’s marriage to Sansa is encapsulated in this passage. During their wedding night, he makes an impassioned plea for her to see beyond his outward appearance, which to the commonplace prejudices of Westeros seems repellent. Tyrion is at his most vulnerable in this moment, but Sansa cannot trust him because of her assumption that, as a Lannister, Tyrion is actively participating in her suffering. Tyrion’s honest admissions are rebuffed, which drives his decision to abandon his family.

“‘I’ll die if it pleases me.’

‘Are you so craven?’

The word shocked him. He was Jaime Lannister, a knight of the Kingsguard, he was the Kingslayer. No man had ever called him craven. Other things they called him, yes; oathbreaker, liar, murderer. They said he was cruel, treacherous, reckless. But never craven. ‘What else can I do, but die?’

‘Live,’ she said, ‘live, and fight, and take revenge.’”

The loss of Jaime’s hand comes with the loss of meaning and purpose. When he idealizes death, Brienne calls him “craven,” precipitating a shift in Jaime’s attitude because he refuses to think of himself as a coward. This allows Brienne to encourage Jaime’s character development, pushing him to see that he is more than his sword hand.

“Sometimes I think everyone is just pretending to be brave, and none of us really are. Maybe pretending is how you get brave, I don’t know. Let them call you Slayer, who cares? […] Wouldn’t you rather be Sam the Slayer than Ser Piggy?”

In this passage, Martin underscores the importance of nicknames as a motif for The Challenges of Choosing One’s Own Destiny. Grenn urges Sam to live up to his new nickname as proof that he is braver than he gives himself credit for. Sam’s nickname may be mocking, but it is also true—especially if he chooses to believe that it is. By accepting this name for himself, Sam defies his cowardice and rejects the life path that the world has chosen for him.

“I am king. Wants do not enter into it. I have a duty to my daughter. To the realm. Even to Robert. He loved me but little, I know, yet he was my brother. The Lannister woman gave him horns and made a motley fool of him. She may have murdered him as well, as she murdered Jon Arryn and Ned Stark. For such crimes there must be justice.”

In this passage, Stannis asserts that his claim to the throne isn’t a matter of personal desire, but justice. He believes that the throne is a responsibility, one whose power he can use to right the wrongs against victims, including his own brother. By looking at his responsibility this way, Stannis shows that he is seeking honor in a dishonorable world and using leadership to empower others.

“‘The knights of the Kingsguard are sworn to keep the king’s secrets. Would you have me break my oath?’ Jaime laughed. ‘Do you think the noble Lord of Winterfell wanted to hear my feeble explanations? Such an honorable man. He only had to look at me to judge me guilty.’ Jaime lurched to his feet, the water running cold down his chest. ‘By what right does the wolf judge the lion? By what right?’”

Jaime ends the anecdote detailing his backstory by driving the contradiction between his honor as a Kingsguard and the responsibility he had to save the realm from King Aerys. This revelation helps to explain some of the antagonism he has shown toward the Starks—Ned Stark, a man unable to acknowledge nuance or consider extenuating circumstances, was the first person to call Jaime dishonorable.

“‘Sister, why has Father brought us here?’

‘Us? This is your place, Brother. This is your darkness.’ Her torch was the only light in the cavern. Her torch was the only light in the world. She turned to go.

‘Stay with me,’ Jaime pleaded. ‘Don’t leave me here alone.’ But they were leaving. ‘Don’t leave me in the dark!’”

Jaime’s dream reveals his greatest fear, which is his abandonment by his sister Cersei, the love of his life. Jaime has had to perform nobility to maintain Cersei’s approval, which is in stark contrast to his relationship with Brienne, who stands by him because she has promised to do so. The articulation of this fear impacts Jaime’s relationship with Cersei in the rest of the novel.

“Because I hacked your little friend in two? I’ve killed a lot more than him, I promise you. You think that makes me some monster. Well, maybe it does, but I saved your sister’s life too. The day the mob pulled her off her horse, I cut through them and brought her back to the castle, else she would have gotten what Lollys Stokeworth got. And she sang for me. You didn’t know that, did you? Your sister sang me a sweet little song.”

Sandor Clegane challenges Arya’s narrow sense of morality by revealing to her that he isn’t entirely evil. His willingness to save Sansa and to reunite Arya with her family signals that his motivations are more complex than Arya gives him credit for. Sandor isn’t a mindless henchman, but a warrior with agency and some sense of conscience.

“‘Heh,’ Lord Walder cackled at Robb, ‘the King in the North arises. Seems we killed some of your men, Your Grace. Oh, but I’ll make you an apology, that will mend them all again, heh.’”

At the Red Wedding, Walder Frey mocks Robb Stark’s apology as part of his revenge for breaking the terms of their agreement. This underscores Walder’s transactional view of honor. Robb humiliated Walder by showing how little their agreement meant to him; now, Walder strikes back by convincing Robb that he could make amends. Walder’s willingness to ignore such deeply held customs as guestright preys on Robb’s presumptions that the world functions according to his father Ned’s narrow ideals of honor.

“[W]hen your enemies defy you, you must serve them steel and fire. When they go to their knees, however, you must help them back to their feet. Elsewise no man will ever bend the knee to you. And any man who must say ‘I am the king’ is no true king at all.”

This passage characterizes Tywin as a strategist who sees the need for compromise when it buys his house an advantage. This contrasts him with Joffrey, who impulsively desires the death of everyone who has ever stood against him. The clash of their personalities paints Joffrey as a liability to the Lannisters’ hold on power, frustrating Tywin’s efforts to accumulate it.

“You cannot free every slave in the world, Khaleesi. Your war is in Westeros.”

Daenerys is at a crossroads at the end of the novel. Although she has found early success in her campaign on Slaver’s Bay, Jorah points out that it distracts her from her original goal of reconquering Westeros. Jorah highlights the challenges of choosing one’s own destiny by framing the social problems of Slaver’s Bay as an issue too big for her to solve. This backfires however—Jorah’s words only drive Daenerys’s desire to address the problem and become a competent leader in the process.

“‘You are my son—’

‘I am a knight of the Kingsguard. The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard! And that’s all I mean to be!’”

This passage marks an important turning point in Jaime’s character as he openly defies his father’s plan for his life. By declaring his intent to honor the office he holds, Jaime distances himself from his family’s self-interest, preferring the reward of his restored integrity. Tywin answers by disowning Jaime, underscoring the challenges of choosing one’s destiny.

“Your Grace, you made me swear to give you honest counsel and swift obedience, to defend your realm against your foes, to protect your people. Is not Edric Storm one of your people? One of those I swore to protect? I kept my oath. How could that be treason?”

Davos appeals to Stannis by arguing that the role of the king is not to conquer enemies, but to protect the realm and its peoples, using leadership to empower others. This speaks to Stannis’s sense of responsibility and justice. Davos reminds Stannis that using the throne to abuse his subjects as his rivals have done makes him not worthy of being king—an argument that appeals to the rigidly duty-bound Stannis.

“When he was done, more than three-quarters of his page still remained to be filled between the gold lion on the crimson shield on top and the blank white shield at the bottom. Ser Gerold Hightower had begun his history, and Ser Barristan Selmy had continued it, but the rest Jaime Lannister would need to write for himself. He could write whatever he chose, henceforth.

Whatever he chose…”

Jaime’s narrative ends on a hopeful note, reminding him that he is not condemned to live the rest of his life as the Kingslayer. Martin symbolizes this with the blank space of Jaime’s page in the Book of the Brothers, which he fills in as Lord Commander. Jaime thus has two responsibilities: not only to record the noble deeds of his fellow knights, but also to actively lead them to uphold the honor of their office. In this way, Jaime also embodies using leadership to empower others.

“Six pups they’d found in the late summer snows, him and Robb; five that were grey and black and brown, for the five Starks, and one white, as white as Snow.

He had his answer then.”

Reflecting on the difference between Ghost and the rest of the dire wolf litter, Jon realizes that he does not have to become a Stark in name to realize his self-worth. Ghost’s coloration underscores that Jon will never truly feel like a Stark—he has internalized his illegitimacy too deeply. This drives Jon’s resolution to stand by his oath to the Night’s Watch while also emphasizing the challenges of choosing one’s own destiny.

“How would you like to spend your life on that bleak shore, surrounded by slatterns and sheep pellets? That was what my father meant for Petyr.”

Littlefinger shows that the pursuit of self-determination is not always honorable. In this passage, Lysa stresses that Littlefinger was always rejected by her milieu because of his low social class. This contextualizes Littlefinger’s drive to ascend the social ladder at all costs. Guided solely by the desire for status, Littlefinger has few moral guardrails on his choices; soon, he marries and murders Lysa to usurp her title and lands.