Episode 32: A GAME OF THRONES, ARYA III: "Riddles in the Dark" SHOW NOTES!

Hello and welcome to the Not A Cast … podcast: the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week. I’m one of your hosts Jeff better known as BryndenBFish. 

And I’m your other host Emmett, better known as PoorQuentyn. 

Welcome to our thirty-second episode of the Not A Cast entitled: “Riddles in the Dark: An Analysis of AGOT, Arya III,” in which Arya Stark chases cats through the Red Keep and stumbles upon dragon skulls and a pair of conspirators. This episode is brought to you all by our Lords Commander Mark N, Timothy W, Hayden J, WolfmanZack, and Joe L. Thank you, gentlemen!

Spoiler warning: All published books - 5 novels, 3 Dunk and Egg novellas, histories, interviews, TWOW sample chapters, as well as Game of Thrones the TV show. Anything and everything!

Question

Ser Thomas H asks:

I have a question for the two of you, now I’m not sure if you guys are into animation whether it be Pixar or Anime but, As an avid ASOIAF and Animation fan I was curious if you guys have ever wondered if The ASOIAF books would make a good animated series or even movie. If it was adapted into animation would you prefer a movie or series and would you have any talent behind the series that you would want attached to it. I’d personally prefer if the creators behind Avatar the Last Airbender. Again thanks for the Podcast and keep up the great work. 

Sincerely your Sworn Sword Thomas H.

Synopsis

Arya Stark faces down a foe cornered against a wall in the bowels of the Red Keep. Quiet as a shadow, light as a feather. She repeats these as prayers to herself as she approaches her prey. Her prey is not an easy one though. It’s a one-eared black tom cat, mean as sin and ready to rumble. 

But this isn’t the first cat Arya has caught. Oh no. Her hands were full of scratches, her knees scabbed over. She had a lot of difficult at first -- even the fat kitchen cat had escaped her grasp. When she had told Syrio Forel of her trial and tribulations, Syrio had told her to get faster. Her enemies would give more than scratches. And so she had.

Arya observed the cats up close and personal throughout the Red Keep. Lazy, old cats, cold eyed mouse-killers, kitten with needle claws, lady cats. And of course there was this one-eared black tomcat that stood apart from the rest for being a mean black bastard who had once stolen a roast quail from Tywin Lannister’s fingers. And now Arya was chasing this cat.

Through the castle, twice around the tower of the Hand, across the inner bailey, through the stables, down serpentine steps, past the kitchen and pig yard and the Goldcloak barracks, along the base of the river wall and up more steps, back and forth over Traitor’s Walk and then down again and through a gate and around a well and in and out of strange buildings until Aray didn’t know where she was.

And now she had him backed up against a wall. Quiet as a shadow, light as a feather. Three steps from the cat, the cat darts and tries to escape, but Arya cuts him off and grabs him, wrapping her to his chest. She kisses the cat and then a voice calls out behind her:

What’s he doing to that cat?

Arya whirls around, dropping the cat and finds Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen along with an obese septa and two Lannister guards next to them. Myrcella demands to know what the boy was doing to that cat, and Arya realizes that they don’t recognize her. Perhaps they wouldn’t recognize her if she got past them. The septa moves forward demanding to know how the “boy” got down here. When Arya makes no sound, the septa orders one of the Lannister guards to bring Arya to him. 

Well, Arya’s not about to shame herself, her father or her family name. As the guardsman reaches for her, she leaps away, then dives through the septa’s legs, runs over Tommen and dives past the other Lannister guard before bounding down the hallway. When footsteps approach, she finds the first available cover and then a window overhead. She leaps for it, catches the windowsill and pulls through the window. Slippery as an eel.

Now she’s alone in the dark and she’s tired. And boy is it dark. No light, no windows. Nothing. It’s pitch black down here. When she’d first gotten to King’s Landing, she had nightmares she would get lost in the Red Keep, but now she really is lost. In her dreams, she had wandered the Red Keep finding faded tapestries, circular stairs and walls that almost seemed to drip blood. And though she would sometimes hear her father Ned’s voice. It would always grow faint until it was completely gone.

In the dark now, though, Arya hugs her knees against her chest and allows her eyes to adjust to the lack of light. In time, it did, but uh, what she sees is a little scary. No, scratch that. It’s fucking terrifying. Terrible beasts, monsters with long teeth. Arya squeezes her eyes shut and tries to make the monsters go away. But more than make the monsters go away, she closes her eyes to make her fear go away.

When she opens her eyes again, the fear is gone but the monsters remain. She reaches out to touch the monsters. Hard. Bone. It’s the skulls of the Targaryen dragons now hidden away deep in the Red Keep dungeon. 

It’s dead, Arya says aloud. It’s just a skull, it can’t hurt me.

But is dead? Arya thinks the eyeless skulls of the dragons watch her, and they don’t like her. Arya whirls and catches her clothes in the tooth of one of the dragon. Breaking free, Arya runs down the hallway, knowing that it will eventually lead somewhere. She passes through a door which leads into a room even blacker than the one with the dragon skulls. 

Arya feels blind, but she tells herself that fear cuts deeper than swords. She walks through the darkness, but then the noises come. The scrape of boots, voices. And then she sees a light and something coming up the steps. A torch and two men. And they’re talking. Oh yeah, baby. They’re talking.

The men talk about someone finding a bastard and what he’ll do when he finds out the truth. Hmm, wonder who they’re talking about. Emmett, any ideas? But wait, they tried to kill his son. And the wolf and the lion will be at each other’s throats. But the other warns that it’s too soon for all that. Delay war. 

Yeah. Okay. The other says. It’s like you think I’m a wizard or some shit. Lol, yeah, I do the other not exactly replies. The men start to move off, but Arya follows them.

What would you have me do? The one holding the torchbearer asks.

If one Hand can die, why not a second? The huge dude with a forked yellow beard replies. 

Hm. Have we met this guy before? Starting to get some vibes on him. Has Strong Belwas infiltrated the Red Keep? Could be! But this isn’t the same Hand. But they still need time. The princess is pregnant and the khal won’t move until she gives birth to a son. Savages, right? High-five!

But it’s not just a game for the Starks and Lannisters. Oh, did I say that out loud? My bad. Stannis and Lysa are gone. The Tyrells are involved, trying to get Margaery into Robert’s bed with Renly and Loras plotting to get Margaery wed to Robert. And Littlefinger? The gods alone know the game that Littlefinger is playing.

But none of them disturb Varys, ah, did I say that out loud again? So clumsy. But none of them disturb Varys as much as Ned Stark. He’s got the bastard, the book and he’s going to have the truth soon enough. But worse still, Catelyn has abducted Tyrion thanks to Littlefinger’s work. And if the Lannisters move north, the Tullys will go to war, and it’ll be Archduke Ferdinand all over again. We need to hustle, Illyrio. Not delay. But Varys warns that he can’t keep all his balls up in the air. He’ll do what he can, but needs more gold and fifty more little birds without tongues who can read and right.

But by then, their voices are fading, and even though Arya can still see their torch and keeps trying to follow, it’s no good. They gone. Arya keeps walking though, pursuing for a time until the torch is gone. In the end, she ends up at the mouth of the sewer, smelling like shit and piss. She jumps into the river below, bathes and then makes her way back to King’s Landing in the dark of night. 

Arya heads back to the Red Keep and confronts two goldcloaks who tell her to get lost, scrub. When she persists, one of the guardsman asks if she wants a clout on the ear. When she insists yet again that she lives in the Red Keep, one of them tries to punch her. She dodges away from the punch and then proceeds to tell them that she’s Arya Stark of Winterfell. Go get Jory Cassel or Vayon Poole. They’ll verify. Unless you’d like a clout on the ear. 

When Arya is let through, she’s escorted to the Red Keep and meets up with her father. She begins to tell him everything she heard about a wizard and a princess with child and, and and …

Did the wizard have a pointy hat, Ned asks unsmiling.

He did not. He was real though. It’s not like Old Nan’s tales. And then there were monsters.

Monsters and wizards. It would seem you’ve had quite an adventure.

Ned then tells Arya that the dudes who were down in the dungeons were probably mummers only here for the tourney. No, Ned. Bad, Ned. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh. 

Anyways, Ned thinks it’s about time for Arya’s dancing lessons to stop, but before he can give the word that he wants to talk with Syrio Forel, Desmond lets Ned know that there’s a member of the Night’s Watch at the door, begging audience. Ned lets him in and welcomes him as his door is always open to the Night’s Watch. He asks the dude’s name. It’s Yoren. And boy does he have news.

Arya bursts in asking after Robb and Rickon and whether Jon is a ranger yet. Oh, and can you take a letter back to Jon if she wrote one? Goddamn, Arya is adorable. When Ned apologizes for Arya’s lack of courtesies and then asks whether Benjen sent Yoren, well, Ned’s about to get his world rocked.

You see no one sent Yoren to Ned. He’s there because of Benjen, yes. He considers Benjen as much of a brother as Ned is to Benjen. But he rode hard, nearly killing his horse to get to King’s Landing, leaving all the others behind. And Tywin Lannister will probably have gotten word by now.

Word of what? Well, Yoren’s not about to blab in front of everyone. It’s not about Jon, Arya asks. Nah, Jon Snow’s doing fine, and he’s got no word on Benjen. But that’s not why Yoren’s come. But before she can find out more info, Arya is led away by Desmond. As they head back to her chambers, Arya asks how many men her father has in King’s Landing. Fifty, Desmond replies.

And they wouldn’t let anyone kill him, right? Right!?!?

Of course not and even if the Lannister have more dudes here, every northman is worth ten of these Lannister dogs. Ah, but what about wizards. What if one of those was sent to kill Ned.

Desmond draws his sword. Wizards die the same as other men, once you cut their heads off.

And that is AGOT, Arya III: a fantastic chapter that gives us our first inklings of the Varys-Illyrio conspiracy as well our first glimpses of the character Arya will be for the remainder of ASOIAF. What did you think, Emmett? 

Depth

As always, Arya is underfoot in this chapter--chasing cats, listening in on conspiracies, bursting into her father’s solar with a wild tale he won’t believe (but should!) Unlike her father or her big sister, Arya doesn’t really have a coherent beginning-middle-end character arc in AGOT. Instead, her job is to provide a contrast with them. Ned and Sansa show us tourneys and council sessions and judgments rendered in the shadow of the Iron Throne. Arya by contrast chases cats, and is so low to the ground (so to speak) that she gets mistaken for a peasant boy by Tommen and Myrcella. Along with her friendship with Mycah and her memory of Ned dining with his servants in earlier chapters, this establishes Arya as our Stark POV among the people, which will of course carry over to her time in the Riverlands (and arguably Braavos as well).

• Training time! *Rocky music plays*
  • After the Hand’s Tourney and the battle in the Mountains of the Moon, we see warrior training at its earliest and simplest stages
  • The mantras:
    • Quiet as a shadow, light as a feather, quick as a snake, calm as still water, smooth as summer silk, swift as a deer, slippery as an eel, strong as a bear, fierce as a wolverine...
    • These of course flow neatly into both her list and the FM mantras
    • That links training aphorisms to violent obsession and cultish ideology
    • Not that Syrio shouldn’t be giving her mantras, but there’s a Full Metal Jacket-esque critical eye aimed at these building blocks
  • You hurt now so you won’t die later:
    • When she’d run to him with her hands bleeding, he had said, “So slow? Be quicker, girl. Your enemies will give you more than scratches.”
    • Reminds me of Brienne and her master at arms: do not flinch from killing!
    • And of course, Arya isn’t fighting people, even with blunted arms--she’s taking on cats
  • Getting to know the Red Keep just as Bran knew Winterfell...and she’ll hear secrets from a pair of conspirators, just like Bran at Winterfell...and they come up the well, just like with Bran at the Nightfort...say, do you think there are some parallels between the Stark siblings? Couldn’t be!
    • Of course, the parallels only go so far. Winterfell is for comfort, and the Red Keep is not: In some of the rooms the red stone walls would seem to drip blood, and nowhere could she find a window.
• The hidden dragons
  • Bigger and scarier than cats, and so a test of what she’s learned from Syrio: The monsters were still there, but the fear was gone.
    • Feels like a very series-encapsulating line right there
  • Very appropriate given that she’s just about to stumble on a Targaryen restoration plot--the dragons have been hidden away, but will return
• The scheming mummers
  • Varys’ feet gliding and the familiarity to Arya give him away, as does the similarity of the disguise to the one he wore to visit Ned
  • Illyrio’s accent is a clue, his description a giveaway
  • Given the Bran parallel, I was sure she was gonna get caught my first time through
  • Compared to jugglers, wizards, mummers...they are performers, first and foremost
  • Illyrio’s bravo training, Varys’ spy training--are they so different from Arya’s training? This is what the endgame looks like, girl!
  • Oomf, the reference to the little birds losing their tongues...

Likes/Dislikes

Like: I liked seeing Tommen and Myrcella: our doomed, little angels. The kids are giving Arya scruff, because they think that she’s abusing the cat, and they’re not about to let that happen. Sure, the kids engage in a bit of classism, but their defense of the cat is more about their desire to protect an animal from abuse, and that’s just great and adorable. So, when King Tommen later has kittens for his retinue in AFFC, it’s both cute as fuck and a nice callback to this moment in AGOT. 

Dislike: I don’t think the last lines of the chapter about killing wizards really packs much of a punch. Oh, I get you, George. Irony. Yes. Ned Stark will get his head chopped off. Desmond will die. And those fifty men that Ned has will not be enough. Yup, got it. But it’s a wonky framing device for irony. Is Varys the wizard here? Will Varys play a role in Ned’s death? I mean, not really. It just feels like GRRM fell in love with the wizard stuff and then let it go too far. Really, the line “No fear on that count, little lady. Lord Eddard’s guarded night and day. He’ll come to no harm” is the better ending for this chapter.

Like: I really like that GRRM doesn’t have Varys and Illyrio refer to each other by name, as a lesser/lazier author would. We know who they are by context, and it would feel unnatural. 

Dislike: It’s completely believable that Ned doesn’t take Arya seriously on the whole, but given the intrigue in which he’s involved (“is everyone someone’s informer in this cursed city?”) I feel like he should be a little more concerned about mysterious strangers inside the castle. Would’ve been easy to have him dismiss Arya’s fear for his life but also attempt to investigate, and have it come to naught. As it stands, it feels to me as though Ned has briefly abandoned his paranoia.

Foreshadowing/Groundwork

The cats as symbolism of 6 different types of people currently in the Red Keep and 1 to potentially come?

The Red Keep was full of cats: lazy old cats dozing in the sun, cold-eyed mousers twitching their tails, quick little kittens with claws, ladies cats … one-eared black devil of a tomcat

• Lazy, old cats: Pycelle dozing off at small council meetings
• Cold-Eye mousers: Littlefinger and his smile that never meets his eyes
• Quick Little Kittens: Tommen? Myrcella? Joffrey? Arya?
• Lady Cats: Sansa
• Ragged shadows prowling the midden heaps: Varys/Illyrio
• One-eared black devil of a tomcat: Drogon perhaps? Or retconned Blackfyre dragon given his moniker as “black bastard.”

More Ned Stark death foreshadowing from Arya’s dreams!

Sometimes she would hear her father’s voice, but always from a long way off, and no matter how hard she ran after it, it would grow fainter and fainter until it faded to nothing.

How about that black tomcat, right? Balerion: Rhaenys’ cat.

CAT OF THE CANALS, right??

Grossly fat, yet he seemed to walk lightly, carrying his weight on the balls of his feet as a water dancer might.

I was near as poor, a bravo in soiled silks, living by my blade. Perhaps you chanced to glimpse the statue by my pool?

Theory/Discussion

So...what is the Varys/Illyrio plan at this point, exactly?

Illyrio says they need to “delay,” complaining that “what good is war now?” This suggests that, long before Varys kills Kevan to sow disharmony, they do indeed want a civil war to weaken their opponents and prime Westeros to embrace a Targaryen savior. Just not yet! 

Who did they intend to be fighting that war? Varys’ comment that “Stannis Baratheon and

Lysa Arryn have fled beyond my reach, and the whispers say they are gathering swords

around them” would seem to indicate that these two preparing for war against the Lannisters is not his preferred scenario. What did he intend to do with them while they were still within his reach? Varys claims that he was not involved in Stannis learning about the twincest, so perhaps he intended to reveal Cersei’s treason to the middle Baratheon brother (and Jon Arryn?) at a later date, once his pawns in Essos were ready to go.

Varys also brings up the Renly/Tyrell plot (the first time we see it laid out explicitly) as a potential threat. So clearly, Varys and Illyrio do not want Robert to gain a new benefactor House that doesn’t have the twincest weakness to exploit. 

Where things get really confusing is the question of with what forces Varys and Illyrio intend to fight their war. Per “The Lost Lord” in ADWD: 

“The plan—”

“Which plan?” said Tristan Rivers. “The fat man’s plan? The one that changes every time the moon turns? First Viserys Targaryen was to join us with fifty thousand Dothraki screamers at his back.”

Jeff’s thoughts on the Essosi side of the scheme sketched out

Two Possibilities:

If Tristan River’s account is an accurate telling both on the Golden Company's part and more importantly, an accurate account of what Varys and Illyrio are up to, the plan was that Daenerys would wed Khal Drogo, and then at some point down the road, the Dothraki and the Golden Company would join forces and invade Westeros together. That's the answer we're presented with in the text, but I have a number of questions on this plan. The top three:

• If Viserys/Dothraki and Aegon/The Golden Company invaded together, would Viserys or Aegon sit the Iron Throne at the end of their successful campaign?
• Varys and Illyrio are intent on enshrining Aegon with the physical instruments of power (crown, sword, a proper religious education, training as befits a knight, an everyman origin story, etc). Given this, would they really want their prepared prince at the head of a barbarian army despoiling Westeros? Wouldn't that craft terrible optics around Aegon?
• What was Daenerys' role here? Illyrio later tells Tyrion that he didn't expect Dany to survive the Dothraki Sea, but that doesn't lend itself to the Dothraki then turning to Viserys and Aegon to lead them into Westeros. Even if Illyrio's plan was for Daenerys to die by poisoning to rouse the Dothraki for war, why would they follow Viserys who they despise? Why would they follow Aegon, who they've never met before?

The alternative theory is that Illyrio sold Harry Strickland and the Golden Company on invading Westeros to install Aegon onto the Iron Throne, because the Dothraki would be with them to offset their numeric disadvantage against the armies of Westeros. But, in Illyrio-Varys fashion, that wasn't the actual plan. The true plan was to send the Dothraki and Viserys into Westeros to wreck havoc and kill their enemies before Aegon and the Golden Company would show up as the liberating force.

There are all sorts of questions with this plan too, but the biggest one is:

• Wouldn't the Golden Company tell Illyrio and Varys to pound sand if they figured out that they were lied to?
• Could the GC beat Drogo and hold Westeros?

Speaking of the Lost Lord Jon Connington, what’s up with this business of "If one Hand can die, why not a second?" replied the man with the accent and the forked yellow beard. "You have danced the dance before, my friend."

This reads a little wonky, right? We know that Varys had nothing to do with Jon Arryn’s death. So, who are they talking about? Strangely, at this juncture in writing AGOT, Jon Connington hadn’t been invented yet. Per Elio, the Conningtons didn’t come into existence until around 1999 in George’s notes about house sigils.

So who are they talking about?

Conclusion

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