A Song of Ice and Fire - A Chapter a day discussion
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12/31/15 - Chapter 23: Daenerys II
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1. Daenerys arrives in Astapor in Slaver’s bay. She sees a huge fountain statue of a harpy, the sigil for Old Ghis, the “Old Empire;” it is a bird-like figure with a scorpion tail. Five thousand years ago Old Ghis was destroyed by the Valyrians. Today, most people speak High Valyrian here, not Ghiscari, and Ser Jorah calls them mongrels. The harpy holds an enormous chain with two open manacles, symbolizing Astapor’s greatest trade good: slaves. 2. Kraznys mo Nakloz is a piece of work. He is a slaver who treats everyone like shit, including Daenerys. He doesn’t know Dany understands High Valyrian so he talks shit on her, using a sweet little slave girl to translate into kinder words in the Common Tongue. Dany pretends not to understand him in order to find out what else he’s not telling her, which I thought was smart. It was Jorah’s idea. It is pretty funny the things he says. The poor slave girl has her work cut out for her, but she translates very well, and quickly. She is talented. She’s from a place called Naath, “the peaceful people,” they are called. They apparently make the best slaves.
3. Dany learns from Kraznys, more or less, about the Unsullied before she decides to buy them. They are chosen young and begin training at about the age of 5. The training is so rigorous that only 1 in 3 boys survive it. They are mindless tanks that follow their master’s orders, basically. Ha! Kraznys calls them courageous, but Arstan calls it madness.
4. Arstan didn’t want to go to Astapor, nor does he want to buy any slaves. Right now he’s helping council Dany while Ser Jorah’s protecting the ships. Kraznys calls them obedient but Arstan says sheep are obedient. Kraznys says they are more like dogs than sheep. These harpy’s sons, the ancient folk of Ghis call themselves this, are about as savage as the Dothraki; they sell even their own kind.
5. Of the slave-soldiers, their age and races vary greatly, but they are all fearsome. They are also eunuchs, which surprises me a man with no balls can be fiercer than a man with ample testosterone. Kraznys admits they will never be as strong as a whole man, but they have excellent discipline, even better than a knight. To prove it, Kraznys whips an Unsullied and draws blood, but the soldier doesn’t move. He cuts a nipple off another one. Like wtf dude... I think they get it. Kraznys explains they feel no pain because they drink something called “wine of courage,” though it’s not wine. It has deadly nightshade in it they drink since they are children that dulls their senses over time. With no pain they understandably are fearless in battle, nor can they be tortured. They lose all of their male genitalia in Astapor, so they can’t engage in certain activities that would distract a normal man. He compares the Unsullied to men like the Night’s Watch; without a penis they can’t be tempted and are married to their swords. The Unsullied are neither interested in rape or plunder, as they have never owned anything to know what greed is. They don’t even have names. Every day they are given a new name so they form no special sense of identity. They must have an excellent memory, then. Their names are vermin, such as black rat and brown flea. I wonder why they bother if they aren’t even human. Why not simply call them “hey you!”?
6. One part of their training is that they have to kill an infant in front of its mother in order to graduate their training. They make them do this to prove they are not weak. Dany can barely keep from showing her disgust. Another test is they own a puppy since they begin training, and after a year he has to strangle it. If the boy can’t do it he is killed and fed to the dogs. This frees them of attachment. Both Dany and Arstan can barely stomach this.
7. Currently Kraznys has 8,000 Unsullied available to sell, sold in units of 100 or 1,000. They don’t do less because they found the fewer Unsullied there are in a group, the more likely they are to assimilate into other slaves and forget they are Unsullied. They don’t make good officers because they are trained to obey, not think. They come with weapons, shields, and a tunic, and their spiked cap, of course.
8. Dany asks what Arstan thinks and he says no. According to him, the Seven Kingdoms outlawed slavery thousands of years ago. No one in Westeros will be impressed with Dany if she arrives with a bunch of slave-soldiers to help win back her throne. Many will oppose her simply because of that. It’s a bad idea. Dany says she needs an army, though. Arstan promises half of Westeros are still loyal to House Targaryen and will fight for her. Many remember valiant Rhaegar. Illyrio Mopatis will send letters in advance to all the lords in Westeros to announce her arrival and to call their banners to her cause. Also, when they see real life, living and breathing dragons, they will surely come running to her aid, not wanting to get scorched I’ll bet, lol.
9. Kraznys tells them to consider quickly because a pirate earlier saw the Unsullied and is considering buying a hundred but tells the girl to tell Dany he’s planning to buy them all, hmm... Dany tells the girl to tell him who she is, but this doesn’t impress Kraznys. He says Old Ghis was an empire when the Valyrians were still fucking sheep. This totally reminds me of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Kraznys growls he’s a son of the harpy and offers to show her around Astapor as she decides, albeit crassly. :) It’s too funny.
10. One of the wonders of Astapor are its pyramids. They are breathtaking when lit up at night. They are also famous for their fighting pits, which sound a lot like the Roman Colosseum.
11. They get a tour of the city on their way back to port. The city is full of red brick buildings and roads and it is blazing hot out. Fine red dust is everywhere, it blows in the wind. Astapori women wear veils to keep the dust out of their faces. She reflects it’s an old city but not nearly as populated as Qarth. Arstan says bricks and blood built Astapor. He says the bricks are red because of the blood of the slaves that made them. Dany says Ser Jorah recommends she buy the Unsullied but Arstan says Ser Jorah used to be a slaver himself; it’s why he was banished from Westeros. Arstan says she’d do better to hire sellswords. At least they aren’t slaves. Dany says she knows what it’s like to be sold. Her brother sold her to Khal Drogo. I like that Dany says only lies offend her, never honest counsel, and, “I have a dragon’s temper, that’s all. You must not let it frighten you.” :) Dany doesn’t understand why Ser Jorah distrusts Arstan. He seems a good man. And Ser Jorah was inappropriate when he kissed her on the ship the last time she was alone with him. Since then she’s never alone with him. Ser Jorah is stuck in the friend zone, lol.
12. Dany’s been craving male companionship since the kiss, though. At night she closes her eyes and tries to imagine her ideal lover. He is never Jorah; he’s younger and comely, but his face is a “shifting shadow.” *SPOILER FOR A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE* (view spoiler) It gets really weird in the next paragraph, with Dany masturbating and Irri performing lesbian sex on her. Very interesting, though, how Dany screams, “Or perhaps that was Drogon.” Sometimes I wonder if she’s a warg. Dany misses Drogo still, and she doesn’t want Irri, certainly not Jorah.
13. The brick pyramids line the shore, the largest is 400 ft high. Gardens surround them and it sounds beautiful. Strong Belwas is eating dog, I guess it’s a delicacy here. When Dany sees Jorah, who is eager to know how many slaves they can purchase, Dany is cold and sarcastic with him, which he probably deserves. He still is a slaver at heart and doesn’t truly understand that Daenerys felt like a slave when she was sold to the Dothraki, so of course she feels bad for the slaves in Astapor. She is so angry she cries and slaps him, wow. At this point she is pretty resentful of him for convincing her to come here, and of kissing her.
14. Dany visits her dragons that have been cooped up in cages the whole time they are at port, in case anyone tries to kill or steal them. They bring a smile to her. I like that Viserion still wants to cuddle up on her shoulder even though he’s too big for that now. Irri says they were wild since she was away. Drogon bit her while trying to escape. Dany apologizes and says so herself that dragons are not meant to be locked up in cages. Irri wants to pleasure her khaleesi again but Dany tells her she doesn’t want that (she doesn’t swing that way, lol) and tells her to go.
15. At night Dany looks out on the city and realizes it is beautiful, the way the pyramids light up. Jorah meets her on deck. He says King Aegon the Conqueror did not win his kingdom simply by sailing to Westeros, he took it with steel and dragonfire, like she must do. She says the Unsullied are innocent people, but Jorah says knights in King’s Landing are just as cruel there as men are here. Westerosi soldiers have been known to butcher babes right out of their mother’s arms and are not above raping and plundering sacked cities. He says there’s a savage beast in all of us, which is true. He says he’s never heard of Unsullied raping, putting cities to the sword, or plundering, at least not without their master’s command. He says they may be just bricks but they will only kill when she commands them.
16. Dany asks why haven’t any khalasars sacked this city yet. It is crumbling and not well guarded. Jorah says they know the Unsullied will protect the city if the slavers command it. Also there aren’t many enemies around to challenge them. They also pay off the khals, for the slaves they train. Dany says Viserys would without a doubt have bought the Unsullied, but Jorah said once she was more like Rhaegar. Prince Rhaegar was a true knight. He led men into battle, not slaves or sellswords, but real men who believed in him. Now Jorah tells her a hard truth. Though Rhaegar fought bravely, nobly, honorably...he still lost. Very interesting points they each make.
About your point 5, it was so unnecesary the thing with the nipple though. But I think he enjoys hurting people. I thought about the names too, I don't know who took the work to made one up everyday from everyone when it was easier to just call them.I also wonder at times if she's not a warg, but I can't say I'm sure.
2-She was talking through an interpreter with Kraznys mo Nakloz, who told Daenerys to stop looking at the harpy and start looking at his creations. He also called her Westerosi whore, and kept insulting her during the entire conversation, thinking she couldn’t understand him. I kept imagining his face if he finds out she does, lol.
3-The girl was no more than 10, and spoke the Common Tongue quite good, which is impressive. Daenerys looked at her and realised she was one from the Peaceful people of Naath, who were the best slaves, I forgot about this. Jorah told her to only speak the Common Tongue/Dothraki, which was smart, she learned how Kraznys was. Dany sees he has larger breasts than her, lol.
4-Danerys asks how the Unsullied are trained. It was freaking hot, and they were standing there with just white linen and their spiked helms. If they were hot, they didn’t show it. The girl explains they are chosen young, and start their training at five. By the end, they master 3 spears, the shortsword and shield. Kraznys told Daenerys they’ve been standing there for a day and a night without moving. They would rest when commanded, or die there. I alredy don’t like the way they are treated at all.
5-Arstan was there with her, she wanted his council, although he thought this was a bad idea from the beggining, and thought so until the end. Jorah was in Balerion, taking care of the dragons belowdeck and the people. Kraznys keeps talking, he says she won’t find any more obedient. Daenerys looks at them, and see men from all over: from the Free Cities, Quarth, the Summer Islands, Dothraki, Lhazerene, and people from Ghiscari. She is surprised at first they seel their own people, but the khals do the same. They were all young, 14-20 years old, all eunuchs. They cut them so they would have discipline, they were not men and did not care about death, it meant nothing to them. How can Kraznys do that to mere boys? I don’t like him one bit.
6-Kraznys whipped one, who just blinked. Dany didn’t want to see it anymore, so she sayd he saw their courage. However, the slaver kept going, he cut the nipple of another man. Kraznys told her they felt no pain at all, they drank wine of courage since the day they were cut. It had a lot of things, and if they felt no pain they can’t be tortured, they won’t speak. They also cut everything, they had no names to remind them they were vermin. This is horrible! Another part of the training to win their spiked helm, they had to kill a baby in front of their mother, so no weakness was left. They also got a puppy the day they were cut, and a year later they had to choke the pup, which was harder for them because they came to love those dogs. This is plain awful, and really, really cruel.
7-The Unsullied were soldiers, not tempted by anything, not even freedom. The slaver told Daenerys he sell them by the unit, and were expensive because they were the best. The gear was included, I forgot that. She had to pick the officers, and think fast because there was another buyer, although he only wanted 100.
8-She asked Arstan what he thought, and he didn’t agree. He told her there were no slaves in Westeros, and it wouldn’t be good if she arrived with an army of them. It would also be an insult to her cause and her House. But she needed an army, even if Arstan told her people would stand up for her because her brother and father were remembered, she just can’t go and trust people will fight for her. How can he be so sure?
9-Kraznys told her he could show her Astapor and take her to the fightpits, a bear was to fight with three boys. How can people go and see that? He also said basically he could fuck her if she wanted, yeah, I don’t think she does. She goes back, and I really like during the trip she asked her bloodrider not to whip. She saw naked slaves and some sons of harpy, we don’t know anything about them yet. Arstan said the bricks were made with the blood of the slaves. Astapor is fucking awful!
10-I really liked how she talked to Arstan. He said she could find her army in Pentos, Myr or Tyrosh, all places where her brother begged. She won’t do the same, she alredy begged. I also liked she travelled with Arstan, he was an old man and it was hot. She seems to like him.
11-She could tell Jorah wanted to kiss her again, and she keeps thiking she shouldn’t have let it happen the first time. That kiss woke something in her, and she touched herself, and when Irri woke up she touched her. How awkard, lol, then Irri went back to sleep again. Daenerys wanted Drogo, not Jorah or Irri, but he’s dead. Interesting she dreamed of a young man but couldn’t see his face.
12-When she got to the ship, Jorah told her the slaver got into the ship and took note of everything they carried. I wonder if they do that with every ship, I would think they do. She had mixed feelings, and she got mad at Jorah, even slapped him. She told him he should have never brought her there, how she wanted to go but couldn’t. Maybe I should feel kinda bad for Jorah, but this place was awful.
13-She went to see her dragons, who did not like being trapped at all and were wild while she was gone. Drogon tried to escape, and Irri got his tale. I forgot he bit Irri. She also said the old woven and children didn’t like the sea, and were not happy when she was gone. That awkard conversation between Irri and Dany, lol.
14-Jorah told her there is a best inside every men, and that’s why they rape, kill and plunder in war. The Unsullied on the other hand won’t do so, unless they are given the command. He has a point though. Daenerys asks why the Dothraki didn’t attack Astapor, it was an easy target after all. It was because of the Unsullied, and because the sons of the harpy gave them gifts, it was cheaper than fighting. She asks Jorah if the men who fought for her brother did it because of him, or because they were payed. I wonder if when he replied all she said was true, it was because Rhaegar had both men. It could be though. Jorah also said: “Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.” I don’t think it was a bad thing he fought like that though, but I guess he was trying to tell her she needed the Unsullied.