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

1-We start off with Arya in the kitchens, and Hot Pie telling her there are ghosts in Harrenhal. She wanted to spit in one of Amory’s tarts, lol. So, this man called Pinkeye is the new one making Weese’s work. He is drunk all the time, so right from the beggining he doesn’t sound that efficient. Arya hear a horn, so she left the kitchen but took a tart before.

2-It was the Bloody Mummers who were arriving, with a bear in a cage and perhaps a hundred prisoners. Northmen, Robb’s men Arya knew. More like Bolton’s men who were with him when he was defeated, but Bolton run away. It’s the second time he runs. The prisoners were sent to the cell in the Widow’s Tower. Pinkeye was there to watch, and we learn Arya is not afraid of him, he doesn’t hit like Weese did, he only threats them. Which is of course better than having Weese. There were not a lot of men left at Harrenhal at this point.

3-She went to see Gendry and asked for his help to free the northmen, but they would have to kill the guard. Gendry said if there were two guards, it was alredy too much for them. He didn’t want to get his feet cut by Hoat Vargo, said it wasn’t safe and where would they go. She said to Winterfell, and he thought he was supposed to serve there, and told her serving is serving, in one place or the other. She got mad at this for not wanting to go, but I guess he’s just used to serve and doesn’t see the difference, or what could be.

4-I liked Jaqen made her brave again by making her a ghost. But she remembered he was in that cell with Biter and Rorge because he did something horrible Yoren knew about, and that’s why he kept him in a cage. I always forget to think about this, and I wonder what he did.

5-One of the reasons she didn’t want to use her last death was because she would be a mouse again. She must have felt really brave and powerful. She went to the godswood where she kept a sword she made out of a broom. She used to practice everynight, and I liked that. She prayed too, but got mad thinking how the gods never helped her father, and didn’t care if they didn’t help her. Jaqen shows up out of nowhere, and told her not to mock the gods. He came for the last name and he knew she was a Stark! I wonder how he found out. She asked him for help to free the prisoners, but he said no.

6-Arya asked him if she said any name he would kill that person, even if she named the King or Jaqen’s father. He said yes, and she said his name. I didn’t see that coming at all. He said if she unsaid the name, he would help her free them. I found it really interesting what he said when he swore he would kill anyone, no matter how long it took him to get to them: “By all the gods of sea and air, and even him of fire, I swear it. By the seven new gods and the old gods beyond count, I swear it.” The way he said even him of fire, like it was a god he didn’t like, but I thought he was talking about the Red God. Anyway, I found it interesting. He said he wouldn’t sleep until she said the name, and could hear the whisper of sand in the glass. I wonder if that means he has certain amount of time or something.

7-She went to the kitchens and asked for broth and waited, like Jaqen said. Rorge and Biter went with Jaqen, and Arya didn’t like that. They all took the broth to the cells, and told the first guards it was for the prisoners inside. Guarding the cell there were eight guards, and Jaqen and the others threw the boiling broth in their faces, and killed them all. Jaqen killed one with his sword, and cleaned it in Arya’s shirt because this was happening because of her, and she should be bloody.

8- Glover and the others got out and took the dead men’s weapons, and some went with no weaspons at all. Biter was eating a hand, what the fuck? And no one stopped him. I just don’t like him at all.

9-Arya then unsaid the name, but Jaqen said his time was done, and got his fucking face out and had another one behind. I won’t lie, at first I thought I read it wrong, and was like, what is this? But Arya thought it was cool, lol, and said she wanted to learn. So Jaqen told her to go with him, but she said she had to go to Winterfell. He then gave her a coin, and said if she ever wanted to see him again, she just had to give that coind to any man in Braavos and say Valar morghulis. At this point we don’t know what it means, but hell it sounded cool, to find Jaqen again with a coin and those words. It was sad and cute Arya asked Jaqen not to go.

10-The Bloody Mummers killed Amory’s men, and Rorge and Biter joined him. She find it odd they didn’t leave with Jaqen. Soon all the castle found out they feed the men weasel soup, so people looked at her. But no one said anything, and later Pinkeye didn’t ask her where she was last night.

11-Bolton, the Lord of the Dreadfort arrived, and he would be the new lord of Harrenhal. He speaks really low. They brought Arya to him, and told him she made the soup. She asked for the name her mother gave her, and she said Nymeria, but people called her Nan. Bolton said she would be his cupbearer. He made the banner be taken down, and put his and the Stark’s banner.

12-Arya watched as they made Amory parade naked, and then being tosed at the bear’s pit. The animal was all black, like Yoren’s cloak. The irony!

Your point 4, I wondered what put him in the dungeons?

1. Lol, Arya is such a bad influence on Hot Pie. She hates Ser Amory so she wants to spit on his favorite tarts. Hot Pie wants to do it too but is nervous, doesn’t want to get caught. So it’s nighttime and Arya’s here, talking with Hot Pie alone when she shouldn’t be.

2. I like that Syrio taught her darkness can be her friend when sneaking around in the dark. :) She learned to see in the dark, though it’s easier when the moon and stars are out.

3. Arya serves a man named Mebble now, but everyone calls him Pinkeye. Sounds like it’s easy to get passed him; he’s always drunk. She wants to escape Harrenhal but Hot Pie doesn’t. He’s got it made here. Compared to eating worms in the forest, this is a better deal. Hard to argue there.

4. Lol, Arya steals a tart anyway and runs up to see who’s entering through the portcullis, even though Hot Pie kept telling her no. :) The Mummers have returned with plunder. They managed to catch a black bear, too! Lol, that’s an odd sort of plunder. They also come with prisoners. One looks like a lord. His sigil is a silver fist, sounds like Glover. Many look wounded. She realizes these are mostly northerners and worries what that means for Robb. Yup, these are Lord Glover’s men, who’d been with Roose Bolton’s part of the North army. They tried to attack across the river but were repelled back, shattered vanguard. Ser Amory breaks their promise of honorable treatment when he tells Vargo Hoat to put them in the dungeons. What an ass.

5. Apparently Pinkeye makes a lot of threats to whip his servants but can never actually manage to hit them, lol, so this makes him not so bad as Weese. Regardless, she still doesn’t want him to see that she’s not where she’s supposed to be.

6. Creepy how Harrenhal sometimes makes no noise at all against the wind and other times it makes a lot of noise when there’s very little wind. It scares a lot of the servants but it doesn’t bother Arya.

7. Lorch had Arya and her group moved underneath the Kingspyre Tower to better serve him since there’s far fewer people in Harrenhal now and they don’t need to be so far away. It was a lot more organized when Tywin was here but now it’s easier to get away since no one seems to know where they’re supposed to be.

8. Arya watches Gendry work in the armory and seems to enjoy watching him. He really gets into his profession, with the hammer looking like an extension of his arm. :) He’s pretty strong, she observes. It’s almost like she has a crush on him or something, lol. I like that he calls her “girl.” :) Well he can’t call her Arya now, can he? Arya asks for Gendry’s help to free the prisoners. They’re her father’s men. There’s only one door to a very large cell under the Widow’s Tower; she thinks he can bash in the door with his brute strength. Of course he doesn’t want any part in this.

9. I see now why Ser Amory looked displeased with the prisoners: there’s as many prisoners here as there are Lorch’s men! It would be too easy for them to overtake the castle if they somehow got out.

10. Arya says if they escape they could go to Winterfell and be safe there but Gendry is sarcastic with her, making her angry, lol. He has a good point, though. What’s in Winterfell that’s so much better for him there than what he has here already? She says the queen will find him if he doesn’t escape. I like that she says he’s “somebody.” :) The poor boy says he’s just a ‘prentice smith. He refuses to believe he could be anybody important. LOL! “The next helm you make, put mule’s ears on it in place of bull’s horns!” She had to flee, or else she would have started hitting him.” I love that! Arya keeps blaming him for getting them caught at the village but you can tell she still cares a lot about him, if only so he can help her get home.

11. Arya thinks it’s dark magic Jaqen used to turn Weese’s loyal dog against him and has been avoiding him ever since. She realizes why Jaqen might have been in the dungeons with Rorge and Biter now. Lol, she ponders whether they even are men or demons Jaqen raised up from hell to accompany him. A part of Arya feels powerful by having the power to whisper a name and that person dies, but once she uses up that last name she’ll feel like a scared little mouse again, awe.

12. I like that Arya practices water dancing in the godswood when she finds time between her chores. She uses a broken, sharp-splintered wooden broomstick for a sword since Gendry refuses to make her one. She usually does her practicing at night. Suddenly she feels the need to pray in front of this angry looking heart tree. She begs the old gods for help in getting the prisoners out so they can kill Ser Amory and take her home. “Make me a water dancer and a wolf and not afraid again, ever.” Awe. :) But then she speaks out loud and tells the gods they should’ve saved her father; he prayed to them all the time, then boasts they can’t help her even if they wanted to, lol.

13. Suddenly Jaqen is behind her and says she shouldn’t mock the gods, startling her, lol. He wants a third and last name to be done with it. She wonders if the gods sent him to her now. He calls her by her real name and that scares her. He repeats he will only take three lives, not one more or less. She wants him to save the northmen like she saved him but he is firm, unyielding, though not unkind. Then she asks if he’ll kill anyone, even his own father if she asked and he nods. She makes him swear it so he swears by all the gods, even the fire one, and the old gods and new. I like how she says even if it’s the king...he swears, whether it takes a year or more for him to do it, he will do it. I thought it was clever of her to name him. He did not expect that! But he’s prepared to do it, because he swore, though he doesn’t want to die. He says she’ll lose her only friend but she says he’s not her friend. “A friend would help me. I’d never kill a friend.” I smiled when he asks if she’ll take back his name and give another if he does help and she agrees. She even refers to herself in the third person like he does, cute.

14. Jaqen takes her back to Harrenhal and calls her an evil child, lol. She thinks of herself as a direwolf, even a ghost of Harrenhal, but not evil. Jaqen says the gods will feast on a lot of blood tonight and asks again for her to change his name and not make him do this. To him this is upsetting the balance of life and death. Still she will not change her mind. He commands her to go to Hot Pie and tell him to make a huge pot of broth for the Bloody Mummers. The head cook seems to strongly dislike Vargo Hoat. She thinks to tell Hot Pie of her plan, then decides against it. “He’d only yield again.” Ha!

15. Arya seems upset Jaqen gets Rorge and Biter involved but goes along with it. They help her take the huge boiling pots to the prisoners. When questioned by the guards Jaqqen kindly says prisoners have to eat too. There are eight guards by the gate. I smiled when they call Rorge the ugliest looking wench they’ve ever seen. They are so excited about the soup they aren’t paying attention when Rorge dumps it in their faces, scalding them. Biter and Jaqen throw their pots of soup on the rest of them and the three start killing guards. I like how Jaqen wipes the blood on her shirt saying she should be bloody too since this is her work. :) They grab the keys and open the door to the cell. The first man to come out is Lord Robett Glover. He tells them well done and asks if this was Vargo Hoat’s idea but Rorge laughs hard in his face, lol wut. He says they’re part of the Brave Companions now, since it seems Ser Amory is not going to be living much longer after this. Jaqen introduces them but Arya calls herself Weasel, not trusting Rorge and Biter to know her true identity. Lord Glover seems wise not to question the type of help he gets and hurries to join the rest of his men to take over Harrenhal.

16. Jaqen explains the Bloody Mummers have no loyalty; they’re sellswords, after all. Soon the direwolf banner will be placed here, which sounds like great news for Arya. Jaqen asks her to unname him now and she does. Ha, she asks if she still gets a third death but Jaqen points at all the dead guards and calls her greedy. “The debt is paid.” Arya’s a little sad; she’s just a mouse again. Out of nowhere Jaqen says he must die now and runs his hand from his forehead to his chin and his face changes like magic. This new face has a scar on his right cheek where there wasn’t one before. His hair is black now. He is a totally different person.

17. Arya is shocked and asks who is he. He grins and she can see he has a gold tooth. She wants to learn how to do what he just did. He says if she comes with him he’ll show her how, but she can’t. She has to get back to Winterfell. He says he has other duties to attend to but gives her a coin and says if she ever wants to find him again all she has to do is present the coin to someone from Braavos and say, “valar morghulis,” a phrase we’ll hear a lot more of later on in the series. She begs him not to go but the man says Jaqen is as dead as Arry and he has promises to keep. He bows and takes his leave of her. That man is so badass!

18. Arya is alone again, surrounded by dead men, but she tells herself they deserved it because they killed Yoren and the others bound for the Watch. I’m really surprised Arya doesn’t try to find Lord Glover. Instead she goes back to her bed under the Kingspyre Tower, waiting for Pinkeye and the others to return after the fighting is over. Pinkeye tells Weasel a new lord is coming to take over Harrenhal, a hard one from the north.

19. Ugh, one of the mummers named Shagwell (what an awesome name, by the way) plays with two decapitated heads, joking about weasel soup. Now Arya has to clean up all the blood and considers adding Shagwell to her to-kill list if he doesn’t shut up about what she did, lol.

20. Later that day Roose Bolton arrives with his men to take up residence in Harrenhal. It seems Edmure Tully got his way! Shagwell shows Weasel to Lord Bolton and she is not happy being the center of attention. Luckily he doesn’t recognize her. Bolton’s eyes are described as the color of ice, interesting. He seems to like her and asks for her real name. She uses Nymeria but says her mom would call her Nan for short. :) Bolton says she’ll call him my lord and asks if she’s afraid of leeches, lol, wtf. She says they’re only leeches and again he likes her answer. He apparently thinks leeches are essential for good health. A medieval practice. He chooses her for his personal servant. I like how she accidentally calls him “your lord” before correcting herself. I wonder if Bolton thought that was amusing. He never seems to laugh.

21. Bolton has Vargo Hoat take down the Lannister and Lorch banners and puts up Bolton’s flayed man and Stark direwolf in their place. She serves Bolton and Hoat as they watch Ser Amory Lorch prance about naked until he’s kicked in the bear pit. Arya enjoys this. The bear reminds her of Yoren, and I assume he gets his vengeance on Lorch.

Yes, it is never mentioned as far as I cam remember why Jaquen was imprisoned, and I really want to know!

Omg your point eight, I was dying to comment it seemed like she had a crush on him, but then I thought maybe I just thought so. I am glad you did too! I ship them so much it hurts, and I am not kidding.

In your point 18, I didn't realise she didn't go to find Lord Glover. It was a logic thing to do after all.