A Clash of Kings Entry 2

I began my ride home by finishing reading about Tyrion. He met with the Queen and she was upset that Papa Lannister didn't obey her royal decree to present himself. (She is so full of it). Tyrion promised he'd figure out a way to get Jaime back. He's witty enough that i'd be worried but I don't think Robb and Catelyn would let him out of their sights. He goes to visit his woman that he brought with (despite his dad's orders) who he is holding up at some brothel. Varys that creepy spider is there and makes it clear that he knows about her. Varys leaves him with a perplexing riddle (priest, king, rich man all give orders to have the other two killed. King promises titles, Priest promises absolution, rich man promises wealth. Who survives?) We don't get an answer. I wanna know the answer!
CB Note: Damn that Varys! He's so riddly. I think maybe the point of it is, you can never know for sure who will die, cause it's up to the man with the sword! Thoughts?
JN Note: JN Notes, come and get them while they're hot!!! Varys is riddly and trixxy, until the rain comes, and washes him out of the spout... As for this riddle, i can't remember if he eventually tells you the answer or Tyrion figures it out, or its just left there. Im pretty positive that hte riddle is partly explained at some point, if it wasn't already.The woman Tyrion brought is Shae, his whore from the camps that he met before the battle he was in.
RK Note: I think the rich man wins, because a sellsword is willing to be loyal only to the highest bidder. Shae and Tyrion are the cutest couple. Sharion. I hope this love can last and Varys doesn't betray them to Tywin or others who will put an end to it.

To Bran who is depressed and having dreams of wolves. They are not letting Summer sleep with him b/c Rickon's wolf (Name?) bit one of the kids of the dude who Catelyn sent to watch over Winterfell (Name?) Cute sequence with Bran howling with the wolves. I tend to forget that Bran is only eight because the author writes as if he is older. Then again, people apparently grow up quicker in these books what with the whole teenage marriage/preganancy.
CB Note: Rickon's wolf is named Shaggydog. He is wild and crazy! He bit Little Walder, one of Walder Frey's many many children/grandchildren. I've also always imagined Bran as older. If you watch Weeds, I've always pictured the younger brother, Shane Botwin, as Bran, even though the aging is a bit off.
JN Note: Cb answered the easy questions already, unfortch. Little Walder and Big Walder are the kids of Lord Walder Frey, of the Crossing - the one Catelyn and Robb had to cut hte marriage deal with. Part of that deal was taking these kids to Winterfell as wards - it helps cement ties between families when kids are sent to other families. For example, Ned and Dead King Robert were wards of dead Hand Jon Arryn's when he was the Lord of the Eyrie before the war that ousted the Targaryens. Wards are also used as hostages, ie Theon Greyjoy. more hummorously, Bran is TOTALLY Shane Botwin. Hopefully mm or lb watches Weeds, bc this is a total nutzor.
RK Note: I completely picture Bran as a little kid of 8. I wish I watched Weeds because I don't know Shane Botwin! But I think Bran is written to act MUCH like a little kid of 7 and then 8, albeit a little kid forced to grow up quick in these rough times and with a tendency towards prophetic dreams. But he was an impetuous little kid thinking nothing could hurt him when he climbed all over Winterfell and got pushed/became crippled, and is still an impetuous little kid wanting to ride outside in the forest on Dancer even after the disaster where he almost got killed in the woods. Also WHAT is up with Rickon's personality that Shaggydog is so wild and out of control? I feel like each one's wolf reflects its owner's personality, so Rickon must be an unruly, fearsome and unpredictable little four year old if Shaggydog is just like him. I think Bran would be happier if he were with Summer, so I feel sad for him that Shaggydog's violence led to Summer also being penned away. Also, Bran appears to have dreams in which he IS Summer!!! Awesomeness.

Back to Arya who is traveling up the kings road. Apparently most people are heading south towards Kings Landing b/c of the wars. They stop at an inn and some of the Goldcoats from Kings Landing appear to get one of the boys. Arya thinks its her (him?) but it's one of the other boys (Bull or something?) Yoren won't let them take him and there's a bit of a scuffle before they leave. I wonder who this dude is. Obviously Yoren took it upon himself to help people escape. Um Aren't you supposed to be neutral when you take the black? I guess it's more of a Swiss-type neutrality where you still help the Lannister's hide money or something.
CB Note: JN Note style "Who could the boy be?!?! I wonder!!!" Ah, I amuse myself. Yoren seems like a good guy. Also, JN or MM might clear this up, but I know Yoren is a recruiter for the Night's Watch, but does that mean he's also a knight of the night watch?? If not, that would kind of be somewhat of a reasoning for why Yoren might try to help people when he can.
JN Note: Who could that boy be?!?! I wonder!!! Firstly, Yoren is almost definitely not a knight, although some Night's Watchmen are (Ser Alliser Thorne, Ser Waymar Royce). Yoren's just a regular guy. He definitely took it upon himself to help Arya escape. I'm not so sure if he is helping the Bull escape, or if The Bull is really just taking the Black for his own reasons. Unrelated, i enjoyed the Swiss neutrality Lannister's as Germans joke.
RK Note: Disappointed LB missed this easy nut that the Bull is Robert Baratheon's Bastard Son! Put down an RK Note on it, I think its the same one we met in A Game of Thrones briefly! Anyway I think Yoren is NOT on the Lannister's side and knows they'll kill Arya and the Bull if they got them, so he's taking them away to help them and help keep them safe. I think the Bull is the bastard son we met who was forging armor or something like that as an apprentice to someone and Ned went to pay a visit to him when he was trying to figure out the Book and Bastard and noticed immediately the strong jawline and coloring so much like King Robert's. But, I think the real trick is that the Bastard didn't KNOW who his father was, so he doesn't know he's Robert Baratheon's son. Poor Bull.

Cut to Jon at the wall preparing to leave to go on a big expedition to find Ben. He has a chat with Sam who is sent to find maps and gets caught up in the huge trove of books and maps that the Wall has. Sam cannot find too many maps. Um, haven't they heard of the Dewey Decimal system!? They go to give the maps to Mormont who is leading the expedition and sadly at this point my subway ride comes to an end and I must stop...
CB Note: I have nothing much to say here, so I'll go with my standard response of I love said character: I love Sam! :)
JN Note: I don't think they even have card catalogs. Just think of all the knowledge lost over 1000's of years b/c these books are a mess. I bet they regret that!
RK Note: These old maps seem like pure AWESOMENESS! I love that sort of thing, I wanted to learn more about all the awesome old tomes in the library!! Such coolness!!

JN Note: Missing from this blog were comments on Maester Aemon's history, as told to Jon by Lord Mormont. I thought LB might comment on this since it came up in yesterday's blog.
RK Note: Maester Aemon could have been a king!! But he totally didn't want to and just didn't have the right temperament. Much can be learned from this wise man... Also no one has mentioned how the Citadel where the Maesters are trained sounds incredibly awesome and sort of like Hogwarts but like the college/grad school version!