A Song of Ice and Fire - A Chapter a day discussion

I have a really busy week, so I won't be able to comment the chapter in the day I'm supposed to. But this weekend I will! I'll create the topics anyway.

This is a really long chapter, and a lot of things happened and we learn more about the Others. And the end made me so nervous the first time I read it and this time a little bit as well, even though I know what happens.

1-The men they find were Benjen's. I need to know what happened to him! But he left with 6 men, so what happened to the rest? Also they found them so close to the Wall, I would be so scared! They put the rigth hand in a jar, and Maester Aemon has it. I wouldn't have that jar next to me while I sleep.

2-Jon has a dream again, but this time the Kings got out of their graves. I wonder what this means.

3-Poor Sam is so scared! Glad Jon was there, he is so sweet with him. I think Aemon sent Sam to be his eyes because he knows Sam is smart, and sees things other people don't.

4-The horn situation is really weird. Ser Jaremy says his men would have heard the horn, but also says he doesn't have men to do the watchs. But they found the men so close to the Wall, didn't they have time to blow it? Anyway, is really creepy.

5-One of the men suggest Othor killed Jafer, and I think this could be possible. If Othor saw what Jafer became, I think he tried to killed him. Now, both of them have their eyes open, really bright blue eyes. This are all bad signs, I would be as far as possible.

6-It's been 6 months since Benjen left.

7-Sam noticed so many things. They didn't die the day before, no animals ate they, they don't have worms in their bodies, only Ghost approached them while none of the other animals did (I wonder why Ghost wasn't as scared as the horses). They didn't have blue eyes before. This are all bad signs! One of the men said they should burn them, and they should have.

8-I forgot the mention of spirit summer, which must be still pretty cold there in the Wall. The summer had lasted 10 years, which is a lot. Winter is coming.

9-I liked Mormont told Sam and Jon they did well. It was the first time they went beyond the Wall, and they saw so many terrible things. They are really brave.

10-Mormont told them to put the bodies in a storeroom, big mistake. Why would he do that? I think he wanted to study them, or have Aemon to do so, but the signs!

11-A letter came, and they find out the King is dead. My heart hurt when Jon thought about seeing Arya again, and asking Ned about his mother.

12-I liked this: "The things we love destroy us every time, lad. Remember that". Of course Jon doesn't believe Ned would betray the King. Poor Jon, so many things happening at once.

13-Totally forgot Mormont knew Pycelle, Lord Stannis, Ser Barristan when he was younger. I guess before he ended up in the Wall. I wonder how he did it, did he volunteer to be there?

14-Jon thinks if Ned dies it would be Catelyn's fault as well. Interesting.

15-Mormont feels bad things will happen, he said he felt in in his bones. Maybe from experience? I know he is old, but I don't know how old. Anyway, I think people should listen to them.

16-How did Jon knew about Lady and Nymeria? Did he recieved a letter? I don't think Pycelle for example would care to write about that, so who sent the letter?

17-Ser Allister the ass provoked Jon of course, and Jon responded to that. He tried to attack him, and then they left him alone in his cell with Ghost but without weapons. I hate Allister so much, seems he has no better things to do than hate people.

18-Jon felt sleep, and when he woke up he felt really, really cold.Ghost was snarling, the man out of his cell was dead, killed in a really horrible way, and Jon took his sword. This is so scary. He went to Mormont's chambers, and saw a "shadow in the shadows", with black hands. I get chills from writing it. They got into a fight, and when Jon stabbed him, it felt queer and cold, the smells and sound were wrong. Then he realised it's Othor.

19-Othor tried to choke him. I think the cold sentation is really well writen, and I felt it again this time.

20-The crow said burn. Now, is this crow extremely intelligent and can anlyze situations, or there is something else going on?

21-Ghost is hurt, poor thing. Jon hopes the body burns, and so do I. This was so intense!

About your comment on Mormont, I thought I read somewhere that when his son disgraced the family by selling the poachers as slaves Jeor Mormont decided to join the Wall rather than deal with the stuff at home. I could be wrong, though, but that's what I understood to have happened.

And I also wondered how Jon knew about Lady and Nymeria. But after rereading, it makes sense that perhaps Maester Luwin from Winterfell might have sent a letter to Jon about what happened, just to keep him in the know (or maybe one of his brothers did) since Lady's bones were returned to Winterfell, they would have gotten news of what happened, and why Nymeria went missing.

1. They recognize the two dead men they found in the woods. Men Benjen Stark took with him on his journey to find Waymar Royce. They both have very blue eyes...hmm. Jon realizes if Benjen took him with them like he had asked then he'd most likely be dead too. Being a ranger doesn't sound quite as appealing now, does it, Jon?

2. Interesting that the corpse's face is ghost-white but his hand, that's still attached to the body, is black as his cloak. Is that from frostbite or is there some other kind of magic going on here?

3. The animals don't like the place where they found the bodies. The dogs are useless, so Ghost led them to the site. Jon thinks it's strange because it's only a wood, and they're only dead men...or is it?

4. Jon dreamt the Winterfell dream again last night, interesting. Wonder if there is any correlation? He gets further in his dream; walks further into the crypt and sees the vaults of the old kings of winter opening and sees all the corpses coming out and he wakes up in terror. He can't go back to sleep so he goes to the top of the Wall and walks along it until the sun comes up. He tells himself it was only a dream; he's a brother of the Night's Watch now and not a frightened boy. :( Awe. Maybe this means he's meant to go back to Winterfell for something? Dreams can mean anything, or nothing at all, but recurring dreams probably ought not to be ignored.

5. Sam is so cowardly he's afraid to even look at the corpses for Maester Aemon. Jon convinces him to look, for the Maester's sake, to be his eyes. :)

6. Benjen had six men with him, but only two were found. Mormont is annoyed -- the men were found so close to the Wall but no one saw or heard anything. One of the corpses even had a horn on his person but no blast was ever heard. Spooky!

7. They try to guess how they died. Ser Jaremy says wildlings have axes, and the one corpse has an axe wound in the neck. Mormont asks if he thinks this is Mance Rayder's work, so close to the Wall? Doubtful. Jon has heard stories of the Others; they all have I'm sure -- but no one wants to say it. They are only children's tales. He feels foolish just thinking about the possibility even now. The second time he reminds himself he's not a boy anymore this chapter.

8. It's said of Jon: "...but Jon Snow was nothing if not stubborn." in regards to Ben Stark. It'd been so long since anyone's heard from him -- most likely he's dead, close to a half year since.

9. Sam braves himself up to disagree with Ser Jaremy, which surprises Jon, and he tells the knight to let Sam speak when told he didn't ask for his opinion. Mormont wants to hear Sam speak too. :) Sam splutters so much it annoys even me, but Jon understands where he's going with the blood. They've been dead longer than a day but they're not decomposing, which is odd. No animal has eaten at them, untouched, except for Ghost, which Jon admits he is different than all the rest, and the dogs and horses refuse to go near the corpses. Sam also says there's no blood on the ground. There should be blood everywhere, but there isn't.

10. Some of the rangers suggest they died somewhere else and somebody left them there for the Night's Watch, as a warning maybe. Then someone admits these men never had blue eyes before. Spooky!

11. No one wants to say what they think they are, but a few suggest they burn them. Unfortunately, Mormont wants Maester Aemon to study them first. The horses absolutely refuse to be of help so the men have to drag the corpses on makeshift slings all the way back on foot. Mormont tells Ser Jaremy to have every last ranger scout the area for Ben Stark and the others, anything, and report back to him.

12. It's very strange how it's so warm all the way up north here. Everyone's sweating, even the Wall. This summer has been ten years, a very long one.

13. Jon feels naked without the direwolf. :) I feel naked without my wedding ring!

14. Jon is happy to see the Wall again. He keeps thinking about the Others, spooked.

15. I like that Mormont tells Sam he's fat but not stupid, and he did well back there. "And you, Snow." :) Mormont knows Sam needs encouragement from Jon and Jon delivers. Sam is so frightened of Mormont but he has no reason to be!

16. When they return they hear one blast of the horn, meaning rangers are returning. And LOVE Jon's thought: "I was a ranger for one day, at least. Whatever may come, they cannot take that away from me." :) He really wanted to be a ranger.

17. When they get back Bowen Marsh has bad news waiting for Jon. He looks genuinely distressed. Perhaps he respected Ned Stark a lot? Was Bowen of the North before he joined the Wall?

18. Jon can tell something's very wrong with the amount of people staring at him. In the common hall his friends tell him the king's dead. Jon is stunned. He's pretty sure this means Lord Stark and his sisters will be coming home and is hopeful of visiting Winterfell to see them again, especially Arya. Oh gods, the feels! He also resolves he'll ask about his mother when he sees his father next, so sad...Jon doesn't know. He's a man now, he reminds himself for the third time this chapter; he deserves to be told about his mother. He wants the truth, even if she is a whore. :(

19. It's interesting how perceptive Jon is -- his sense of foreboding. Mormont tells him to get a cup of wine for himself as well, and sit. Jon can't sit, though. He knows it's about his father somehow. Mormont starts talking about how 'love destroys us every time,' talking about his own son, stalling. Haha, now he commands Jon to sit and drink.

20. When Mormont tells him Ned's imprisoned for treason, Jon hotly protests. "Lord Eddard Stark would never dishonor himself...would he?" "He fathered a bastard, a small voice whispered inside him. Where was the honor in that? And your mother, what of her? He will not even speak her name." :( Jon is doubting his father.

21. Mormont says he has friends in King's Landing, he'd like to request Lord Stark to take the black and join them on the Wall. Jon thinks it's a strange thought, his father a brother with him here, and "strangely uncomfortable." Odd. I would think he'd be happy to see his dad alive and right beside him, even.

22. When Mormont refers to Lady Stark as his mother Jon sharply reminds him she is not his mother. He remembers his sisters and asks what about them? Mormont says he will have to ask in his letter, then says he hopes he won't do anything stupid, "boy." Ha! After all, Jon is still only 15. I think they become adults at 16 in this world.

23. If it really were none of their concern, why do they get news all the time from all over the realm? And why tell Jon, if Ned Stark is no longer his family? I think it should be their concern, since they're supposed to protect the realm! "This is my father, my sisters, how can it be none of my concern?" Exactly!

24. Now Jon realizes that everyone knew before him. A least he has most of their support.

25. It's really sweet his friends support him, and Sam even calls him brother, which makes Ned his father too. :) Until Ser Alliser comes in...jackass.

26. Holy shit Jon tries to kill Ser Alliser! Mormont is disappointed in him and he is locked up with no weapons until they can decide what to do with him. Someone's in deep trouble. I forgot how serious this gets!

27. When Jon wakes up in the middle of the night it is very spooky feeling. He sees Ghost clawing at the door to get out. He bares his fangs at Jon when he asks what is it. The room is SO cold, and Jon is trembling violently. He knows something is definitely wrong.

28. He opens the door and the guard who is supposed to keep Jon from trying to escape is dead, head twisted 180 degrees. Jon feels like he's in a horrible dream. He follows Ghost, taking the guard's sword since he won't be needing it anymore. They are in Lord Commander Mormont's solar when he sees the white walker.

29. It's so creepy how neither wolf nor man make a sound as they fight. When it has Ghost by the neck, Jon hacks at it but the sound is wrong, and the smell makes Jon want to gag it is so queer and cold. When Jon sees it's Othor he reels back, frightened.

30. "...those eyes, eyes, eyes like blue stars burning." Hmm...

31. It's strange through all of this Mormont's raven can only say "Corn!"

32. Dead Othor is strong and does not die. It knocks Jon over and thrusts its fingers into Jon's mouth, choking him -- gross!!! It is so close to him and he's not strong enough to push it off. Ghost helps, luckily, and Jon retches and shakes. I would too, if an undead thing shoved its frozen fingers down my throat! You know, I think this is also Jon's first real fight, and he's going against a supernatural being, not what he was expecting, so it's not like he's a terrible fighter. And remember, these kinds of things have been known to kill knights. You go, Jon!

33. Mormont comes out to investigate the loud noise and sees the madness with his own eyes. Jon can't scream, must have lost his voice, so he grabs the lantern in Mormont's hands, smashes it, and throws the curtain on fire. He then flings it at the white walker, burning his hand in the process. He prays to his gods to please let it burn. The bird knew to say "Burn!" without hearing the word, OMG I just noticed this after rereading a second time!

34. Thought this was interesting: "The heat of it on his face was sweeter than any kiss Jon had ever known." Well, I doubt Jon has been kissed very often, except from maybe Arya, and occasionally by Ned.

35. It's pretty spooky that the bird knew to say "Burn!" even before Jon smashed the lantern. *SPOILER FROM A DANCE WITH DRAGONS* (view spoiler)[Is this Bloodraven at work? I think so! (hide spoiler)]

Well, it makes sense Jeon left after what Jorah did. I haven't thought that.

And now that you mention it, I think Maester Luwin could have told him. It also makes sense, I just wondered because a letter wasn't mention.

About your point 4, I do think his dreams have a meaning, they are named really often to not mean anything.

I also thought it was odd Jon thought it would be weird to see his father in the Wall. Maybe because he never pictured him there? I don't know, really.

I think they should be inform about what happens in the realm, but they don't do anything about it. I believe they should know if a war or something big is happening, since they are part of and protect the realm.

Interesting your point 32! I think it was his first battle as well, and he did great.

Haha I thought about your point 34, but I think it's just an analogy. But I don't think it's mention if he liked/kiss a girl who wasn't Arya. But I don't think it likely, since he wasn't love by most.