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Episode 59: A GAME OF THRONES, CATELYN IX: "The Bridge Troll" SHOW NOTES!
🕑 Added 2019-04-22 14:00:03 +0000 UTC
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 the fifty-ninth episode of the Not A Cast, entitled: “The Bridge Troll: An Analysis of AGOT, Catelyn IX,” in which we finally come face to face with the fandom’s favorite family, the fantastic fabulous flawless Freys.
Factually though, the Freys are fickle and farcical and fanatically cruel, so fuck ‘em.
This episode is brought to you by our Small Council:
- Hand of the King WolfmanZack
- Grand Maester Timothy W
- Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Mark N.
- Lord Travis, Master of Ships and Warden of the Waves
- Ser Keith J, Master of Whisperers
- Lord Philip the Merciful, Master of Laws
- Jancy O, Lady Commander of the Night’s Watch
- Lord Gene Master of Coin
- Archmaester June, Healer of the Lesser Poxes
- Ragged Michael, Warden of the North
- Nelson the Hammer, Prince of Dragonstone
- Scarlett the Other Red Woman and Mistress of Whisperers
- Lord Baby the Onion Baby
- Lord Blackheart the Defiant, Master of Zorse
- Lord Micah Warden of the West and the Kraken’s Bane
- Lord James: the Jim that was Promised
Thank you councillors very much!
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 Snark Knight asks:
Hey Guys,
The upcoming meeting with Walder Frey reminded me of this question. As we approach the end of this book, what are your most notable pieces of Early Installment Weirdness found in the series and do you think this qualifies? House Frey's massive army of 4000 men (and 20 good ones) seems leagues above the older more established River Lords.
Synopsis
This knot of northern, river, King’s Landing chapters are fun, fun, FUN. I’m almost sad to visit the Wall next week. But not actually sad given that we have a verrrrrrrrrrrrrry special guest coming on next week. Stay tuned to the end to find out who this mystery woman could be!
But we are back with the much-beloved Catelyn Stark, and boy, oh, boy, are we getting into plot territory that is going to extend its plot significance all the way to the final pages of ADWD and on into TWOW!
Catelyn Stark’s fears grow as Robb Stark leads his northern army march down the causeway towards the Riverlands. She fears for her kind of a dick father Hoster Tully and her brother Edmure, who coincidentally has only done one thing wrong in his entire life, to care about. Then there’s Ned and her daughters. But she’s focused on Robb now, saving her strength for him. And through everything, Catelyn keeps her fears hidden behind a stern face. She bears the last name of STARK after all.
You must be as fierce and hard as the north, Catelyn Tully. You must be a Stark for true now, like your son, she tells herself.
Robb continues exemplifying excellent leadership on and off the march. As I said before, he’s at the very head of the army column, but he’s also taking meals with each and every lord in turn. Catelyn thinks that he’s learned much from Ned, and suddenly I’m sad for Ned and Robb and well, Catelyn again.
Ahead of the army itself though, my namesake, Ser Brynden Tully screens the Stark movement south with one hundred picked horsemen. And the scouts report that Tywin was a many days ride to the south, the other news that these scouts brought back was bleak. Walder Frey had called his banners and had nearly 4,000 men assembled at the Twins. But he hadn’t done anything with those men. Late again, Catelyn muses. But Robb is perplexed.
Lord Frey cannot hope to fight the Lannisters by himself. Surely he means to join his power to ours.
Well, perhaps, Robb, but Catelyn is not so sure. Expect nothing of Walder Frey, and you will never be surprised, Catelyn tells Robb. And Walder ain’t exactly know for being especially friendly with kind-of-a-dick Hoster Tully. And he had marriage ties to the Lannisters as his son had wed Tywin’s sister Genna Lannister, a character who Emmett, I believe you have a fondness for …
But still, Catelyn thinks that Walder Frey isn’t really sure what he’s going to do with all those men.
That night, they set up camp along the south edge of the bogs of causeway, and Theon Greyjoy reports that Brynden “First Blood” Blackfish eliminated a dozen Lannister scouts, and Ser Addam Marbrand is pulling the rest of his forces back, burning as he goes (Lannister fuckin’ toady that Ser Addam is). P.S. I’m sure Brynden killing those scouts and Addam Marbrand running away will have no future impact on the plot.
But Catelyn isn’t quite so sure as I am. She’s probably never read these books before. She thinks that Lord Frey might tell Tywin of their movement, and she instructs Theon to bring down any and all birds she sees coming out of the Twins. But not to worry on that count, Catelyn. BFish already has given out the same orders.
She ought to have known that Brynden Blackfish would be well ahead of her.
Catelyn asks what’s going on up ahead at the Twins, and Theon reports that Walder Frey himself has strung up some Lannister scouts while keeping most of his army close to the Twins. And while Robb is reassured of his news, Catelyn is less so.
Defending his own lands is one thing, open battle against Lord Tywin is another.
Robb asks Theon if Brynden has found another way across the Green Fork other than the Twins. And it’s a solid no from Theon. I must have that crossing, Robb thunders. He then tries his best well, maybe we’ll build a lot of boats and cross that way, but even Robb knows that’s silly. They need the Twins, and they can’t take by force either, Theon, you idiot.
Robb glanced from her to Greyjoy searching for an answer and finding none. “What would my lord father do?
Find a way across. Whatever it took, Catelyn tells Robb.
The next day Brynden Tully himself arrives, and he’s got grim news. Jaime has crushed the Lords of the Trident in battle under the walls of Riverrun. Most of the river lords are running like hell away, and Edmure Tully was wounded and taken prisoner. The only silver lining to this blackest of clouds is that Lord Tytos Blackwood was able to fall back into the castle of Riverrun.
We must get across this accursed river if we’re to have any hope of relieving them in time, Robb declares.
Well, that ain’t gonna be easy, Robb. Walder Frey now has his army inside of his castle walls, and he’s barred his gates to crossage. Robb, in similar fashion to Father Ned from the last chapter, starts to damn Walder Frey, declaring that he’ll storm the walls and bring them down on top of Walder Frey, but Catelyn puts her mom pants on and gets to work:
You sound like a sulky boy, Robb. A child sees an obstacle, and his first thought is to run around it or knock it down. A lord must learn that sometimes words can accomplish what swords cannot.
Robb gets all red, but instead of pouting, he instead asks what Catelyn means -- which, gotta hand it to you, Robb. That’s mature at any age when your mom sick-burns you like that.
Catelyn answers Robb’s question by calling him to look at how the Freys do business. They’ve held the crossing for 600 years, collecting tolls, and so he’s just playing to form. Walder Frey will want his toll, and if Robb doesn’t pay it, well, shit, go home already or get ready to meet Tywin Lannister’s army head-on. Robb considers, and Catelyn prays that Ned taught Robb wisdom in addition to valor.
Around noon, the northern vanguard catches sight of the Twins, and it’s a sight to behold. Two castles and bridges span the Green Fork, and from the walls, there were arrow slits, murder holes and portcullises. The bridge had taken three generations of Freys to complete, and then because the Freys are, and this will be controversial, big ol’ jerks, they puts timber keeps on either side to ensure that people paid their passage. The timber had been rebuilt as stone later on. And what do the castles look like now? Well, in some contrast to Game of Thrones, Season 1 which had the Twins as pristine castles, Catelyn thinks otherwise:
The Twins--two squat, ugly formidable castles, identical in every respect, with the bridge arching between. High curtain walls, deep moats and heavy oak-and-iron gates protected the approaches, the bridge footings rose from within stout inner keeps, there was a barbican and portcullis on either bank, and the Water Tower defended the span itself.
Despite how ugly these castles are, Catelyn doesn’t think that they can be taken easily or in time to save Riverrun. The northern lords seem to agree as the Greatjon curses at the castle while Rickard Karstark glowers at the castle in silence, Roose Bolton says that the castle cannot be assaulted and Helman Tallhart mutters about how siege would also be impossible.
But just then the drawbridge lowers, and Frey knights come riding forward. At the head of the column is Ser Strevron Frey: Walder Frey’s son. A young man in his prime, ready to take the reins of power from his father Walder? Heh, no. He’s over the age of 60 with sons and grandsons of his own. According to Catelyn, he looks like a tired, old weasel. But at least he’s polite:
My lord father has sent me to greet you and inquire as to who leads this mighty host.
Robb spurs his horse forward, saying, It’s a me, Robb Stark-io! Well, Strevron is kind of amused by Robb the boy leading the army, and he invites Robb to the Twins so that he can, um, explain his purpose in being here? Hm, is that the real reason? I wonder.
Well, people start yelling at Robb not to do that. Roose Bolton, in a hilariously ironic turn, even puts in that he shouldn’t trust Walder Frey, and that if Robb goes in alone, Walder Frey will sell him to the Lannisters, throw him into a dungeon or slit Robb’s throat. OR PUT A SWORD THROUGH ROBB’S HEART, ROOSE!? I SEE YOU.
Well, Catelyn hears all the commotion, and she comes up with a better idea:
I will take the ring to Mor- shit, wrong series. I will go.
Robb is started and asks if Catelyn is certain. She lies and says she’s very certain. Besides, Walder Frey had known her since she was a girl, and he would never hurt her unless he saw some profit in it, right? Ha-ha-ha-oh-no. Well, Strevron agrees to terms, and he leaves behind Ser Perwyn as a return “honored guest.” But now Catelyn is off, but before she gets too far, Robb tells Stevron not to be too long. He doesn’t have a lot of time.
On the way to the Twins, Catelyn thinks about how kind-of-a-dick Hoster Tully had once talked about how Walder Frey could field an army from his dick. And as she enters and sees all the sons, grandsons, bastards, grand bastards, daughters, she knows why that is. But up ahead, Walder Frey himself is being carried in splendor into the audience hall aboard a litter:
Lord Walder was ninety, a wizened pink weasel with a bald spotted head, too gouty to stand unassisted. His newest wife, a pale frail girl of sixteen years, walked beside his litter when they carried him in. She was the eight Lady Frey.
Catelyn tries her best “It’s so good to see you again, Lord Frey” routine, but Walder only squints at her all suspicious and doubts that she really gives a damn about him. Why are you here? And why isn’t Robb here? Catelyn observes that Walder is worse now than ever. She needs to be careful with how she proceeds.
But before all that, we get some fun banter of Ser Strevron and one of Walder’s bastards saying “Nowwwww dad, beeeeee nice!” and Walder Frey responding with “Shut the fuck up, Steve. And I fucked your mom when she was milking goats, bastard.” Happy family relationships all around.
Walder then demands to be lifted up into his chair, and his timid wife, the villain Joyeuse Erenford, timidly follows him up. Walder beckons Cat forward, and she comes. He kisses her hand, tells her the courtesies have been observed, and let’s get down the business. Why are you here?
Catelyn is here to tell Walder to open his gates as Robb and his army needs to cross. Going to Riverrun, are we? Walder asks. Yeah. P.S. why aren’t you there, you dirtbag? Well, according to Walder, he’s just following orders. He’s called his banners, and they’re all here at the Twins now. He asks his son Jared (him of the “Jared of House Frey, I name you liar” fame from ADWD, Davos III) to validate his claim, and Jared complies, probably lying as befits his character.
But now, Walder Frey is reluctant to send his boys to Riverrun. Jaime’s defeated the river lords, and he’d only be sending his men to die. No thanks. Well, Catelyn wants to throw Walder into a fire and burn him till he’s dead, but she bites her tongue and talks about that’s exactly why we need to cross. And BTW, Walder, can we talk in private? We’re talking now, Walder says. But then he dismisses everyone from the audience hall, talking about how Catelyn probably wants to fuck or some shit. That’s a big ol’ “wow” from me, Walder.
Now alone with Catelyn, Walder talks about how all his sons just want him to die. Catelyn strokes his ego, tells him he should live to be a hundred. Well, that does stroke Walder’s ego. Now tell Big Daddy Walder why you’re here, Catelyn, you minx. They need to cross. Okay. Well, why would Walder allow that? Catelyn’s anger flares:
If you were strong enough to climb your own battlements, Lord Frey, you would see that my son has twenty thousand men outside your walls.
Walder’s not impressed. They’re all going to die when Tywin arrives. Plus Ned is in prison, Hoster is dying, Jaime has Edmure prisoner. What exactly are you offering? And besides:
That son of yours? I’ll match you son for son, and I’ll still have eighteen when yours are all dead.
I don’t, Emmett. I’m starting to not like this guy. Well, it’s clear that Catelyn doesn’t like this guy either. She tries the ol’ “you swore oaths to Hoster” routine which worked out well at the Inn at the Crossroads, but Walder is not impressed. Besides, he swore oaths to the crown too. That makes you and your son rebels. Walder should help Tywin Lannister instead. More of a sure thing if we’re being honest.
Well, then why not help out Tywin then? Ah, yes, well, as for that, as you might be sensing, Walder’s a bit of a prideful sort. But Tywin? That motherfucker is arrogant, know what I’m saying? And what’s he got to be arrogant for? He’s only two sons, lol! So, he wants Walder’s help, he can damn well ask for it.
So, Catelyn ask for Walder’s help on behalf of Robb, Edmure and Hoster. But Walder’s not done pontificating. Don’t patronize me, lady. I got a wife who does that for me. And besides, your dad never came to my latest wedding or even the one before that. And he call me, ME, the Late Lord Frey. How insulting! Worse, still, he wouldn’t even marry Edmure to one of my daughters.
And don’t let Walder get started on Lysa. Walder had gone down to King’s Landing a year back to watch his younger sons joust in the tourney and watched all of them get knocked from their horses, and his third wife was a slut, and oh, where was I? Oh yes, YOUR SHISHTAH. Well, Walder wanted to foster two of his grandsons in King’s Landing, and he would take Sweetrobin to foster. And those grandsons, what were their names again? Ah, who cares, but when Walder proposed fostering Sweetrobin at the Twins, Jon Arryn had refused. And it was all Lysa’s fault. She was all thinking that Walder would mistreat the boy which my god, to think, Walder … mistreating someone? It cannot be.
Besides, Jon Arryn told Walder Frey (in Lysa’s presence, mind you. And that’s HUGE) that he planned to foster Sweetrobin on Dragonstone with Stannis!
Oh, well, Catelyn wasn’t tracking that. She thought Sweetrobin was going to Casterly Rock. Nope, Walder says. Not Casterly Rock. Dragonstone and Stannis. But on that note about Stannis and Tywin. They’re such buttholes, amirite!? Uh, no. Well, Tywin, sure. But Catelyn asks again who was supposed to foster Sweetrobin. You sure it was Stannis? Yes, Walder is sure. But let’s get back to business.
You say you want to cross the river? Walder asks.
We do, Catelyn responds.
Well, you can’t, Walder announces crisply. Not unless I allow it, and why should I? The Tullys and the Starks have never been friends of mine. He pushed himself back in his chair and crossed his arms, smirking, waiting for her answer.
The rest was only haggling.
At sunset, Catelyn Stark return to Robb’s camp with an honor guard: Ser Jared the Liar, Hosteen the Dumbass, Danwell the Looter and Ronnel Rivers who has a very short wiki of ice and fire entry. Robb rides out to meet her, and Catelyn reports the good news.
Lord Walder will grant you your crossing. His swords are yours as well.
Great news, mom! Thanks for doing that for me! Let’s get mov- Ah, before that, Walder’s got some terms. Two of Walder’s grandsons will go north to Winterfell to be wards. Additionally, Olyvar Frey will become your squire. He’ll need a knighthood. And Arya will wed Elmar “nicknamed the Fudd” Frey. Arya ain’t gonna like that, Robb says.
She probably won’t, but there’s one other, small, very small matter. Robb, you need to marry a Frey. Good news is that you get the pick of the litter. Well, Robb does his best not to flinch or wince.
I see.
Do you consent, Catelyn asks
Can I refuse?
Not if you wish to cross
I consent, Robb says solemnly.
And now Robb doesn’t seem like Robb the boy to Catelyn. Boys played with swords, but men made marriage pacts. Yes, they do, Catelyn. Say, we should ask your dad about that …
The army crosses the Twins at evenfall, and I love this image: The double column wound its way through the gate of the eastern twin like a great steel snake, slithering across the courtyard.
Catelyn rides at the head of the serpent with Robb, the Blackfish and Ser Stevron (who I just wanna call “Ser Steve” from here one out. Is that okay, Emm?) It takes hours to cross the bridge, but even as they cross, Catelyn catches sight of Walder Frey in his litter looking down at the army at the crossing.
But not all of the army was crossing the bridge. On the eastern bank of the Green Fork, Roose Bolton was leading the Stark foot directly south to meet Tywin Lannister.
For good or ill, Alea iacta est
And that is AGOT, Catelyn IX. You know I can blab on about the intricate politics, the history of the Riverlands, the grievance of House Frey, the tenuous Tully-Frey relationship or even how we get the motivation for Lysa killing Jon Arryn RIGHT IN THIS CHAPTER, but no. This chapter is hilarious. I mean, it’s hard to write a synopsis of this chapter without wanting to quote the whole Catelyn-Walder dialogue in total, because it’s damn fine comedy. It’s only, of course, undercut by the fact that Walder Frey will murder the shit out of everyone two books on.
Depth
First of all, what a difference rereading makes for this chapter in particular! In isolation, your first time through AGOT, Catelyn IX is a comedy. Especially given the context of Eddard XV last week and Jon VIII next week, both of which are extremely heavy and wear their dramatic Shakespearean themes proudly on the surface. Catelyn IX, on first read, is about an irascible old asshole who has to be coddled into doing the right thing, so thankfully Catelyn’s there to save the day with a sigh and a rolled eye or two. Look at the transition from Lord Walder outright refusing to let Robb’s army cross his bridge and staring Catelyn down smugly to “the rest was only haggling.” That’s funny! That’s a comedy cut! That’s designed to make you not take Walder Frey especially seriously. You don’t like him, certainly--he’s clearly a conniving coward who treats his family like crap for the most part, and you can see that on first read--but he doesn’t come off like a supervillain. He doesn’t come off like someone who’s going to wipe out Robb and his entire army in the most devastating and widely discussed sequence in the story, book or show. That’s (in part) what makes it feel like the rug’s being pulled out from underneath you when he does do that, and GRRM sets up that headfake expertly in this chapter even as the actual plot elements that will lead to the Red Wedding are being set up in plain sight.
- Catelyn the Cassandra
- There’s also the gloomy tone with which the chapter starts:
- As the host trooped down the causeway through the black bogs of the Neck and spilled out into the riverlands beyond, Catelyn’s apprehensions grew. She masked her fears behind a face kept still and stern, yet they were there all the same, growing with every league they crossed. Her days were anxious, her nights restless, and every raven that flew overhead made her clench her teeth.
- Catelyn, as she notes, has plenty to fear, and not only about the characters we’ve met--also about Hoster and Edmure
- Under the surface, Catelyn’s gotta be thinking about her disillusionment with Lysa, and fearing that her entire family is falling apart, Tully as well as Stark
- This is part of the deep exhaustion that sets into Catelyn over the rest of her story, for example this from her second chapter in ACOK:
- I want to weep, she thought. I want to be comforted. I'm so tired of being strong. I want to be foolish and frightened for once. Just for a small while, that's all . . . a day . . . an hour . . .
- This reflects not only what she’s lost, but her “apprehensions” and “fears” that the loss has only begun--that the dark wings will just keep on bearing dark words
- But if we are winning, why am I so afraid?
- All she can do, as she says, is invest everything in Robb--Ned’s son, but with Tully colors and the Blackfish at his side. As such, she plays a distinct role at his side in this chapter: the realist desperate to keep him grounded and focused
- He has learned so much from Ned, she thought as she watched him, but has he learned enough?
- Did you teach him wisdom as well as valor, Ned? she wondered. Did you teach him how to kneel?
- There’s also the gloomy tone with which the chapter starts:
- Robb the Lord v. Robb the Boy
- As for the Young Wolf himself, we see him continuing to mature as a leader following on Bran VI and Catelyn VIII, without him unrealistically growing up 100% overnight
- He’s handling his bannermen well--not only listening to each in turn, but weighing their words against each other, trying to determine who’s offering him useful intelligence and who’s just ass-kissing or straight-up lying
- That’s a perfect way to set up dealing with the most truculent and least loyal vassal of them all, Walder Frey
- The first half of the chapter has this pattern in which Robb and Cat get closer and closer to the Twins, they get more and more information, and their dynamic plays out in response, with Theon acting as the cocky counterpoint to Cat’s pessimism
- Robb rages about the need for a crossing, Theon of course urges him to tear the Twins down around Walder’s wrinkly head, but Catelyn makes them focus on the question Robb can act upon politically and diplomatically: “What does he want?”
- Setting up the Freys
- All this debate is centered on the thorny question of loyalty in a civil war. Just as Robb and his bannermen will be caught between King Joffrey and King Renly at book’s end (before the Greatjon cuts the Gordian Knot), so the Freys introduce the question of what side Westeros will take as the war breaks out in full
- That’s especially pressing because Walder is notoriously disloyal, sticking up for no one but himself and his interpretation of what’s good for his family
- Catelyn points out this gray area RE the Freys killing Lannister scouts--they’re defending their lands, but that’s a different question than outright war
- So it’s not as simple as striding up and demanding loyalty; the Freys allow GRRM to get at How Power Works and What It Even Is, as with Varys’ riddle in book two
- Just look at their bridge and how they use it, the history of how they rose from it; this is political and economic power stripped down to its quantum core
- You need to cross? Fuck you, pay me. And all the nobility and armaments and sigils flow from that basic power dynamic, the timber giving way to stone…
- Three generations of building for the sole purpose to screw people over.
- It’s SO simple that it can literally be reduced to a children’s game as we will see in Bran’s early chapters in ACOK, when the young Walders arrive at Winterfell
- Meeting the Freys
- Lord Walder plays one long note in terms of dialogue--he’s such a grumbling aggrieved ass at every opportunity that he makes Stannis look positively personable--but he’s actually fairly complicated as a politician
- As Catelyn says, even he doesn’t necessarily know what he’s going to do here, because he has “an old man’s caution and a young man’s ambition”
- This contradiction produces simultaneous recklessness and conservatism
- On the one hand, you see Walder holding back at first here from the fight, as he did during Robert’s Rebellion
- On the other, if you press his levers juuuust right, he’ll commit, and commit hard
- Why is this? Because even though Walder smolders with resentment against the Great Houses and how they look down on him and his family, he knows that if the Freys are ever gonna be the next Redwynes, he needs a Great House as his patron and benefactor, so he has to bow and scrape. Gotta serve someone!
- The Tullys have never been willing to play that role despite his many attempts, but maybe the Starks will, and if they won’t, well...there’s always the Lannisters
- The Freys are remorseless in squeezing every drop of advantage out of an alliance, greedy for lands and honors even more so than Cersei vis-a-vis Robert
- The Lannisters always pay their debts, but the Freys always collect theirs. Hence the title of this episode--Walder is the fairytale troll crouching under the bridge, demanding payment. Robb reneges on the deal, so the debt is taken in blood
- Even before the Red Wedding, though, it’s clear that the stakes are high and the politics complicated; that’s why GRRM sets it up for so long in this chapter
- I love that he then splits duties between Catelyn and Robb, with the former acting as ambassador while the final decision remains with the latter
- It plays to their strengths, in-universe but also as characters, allowing them both space to act in a realistic fashion; no one is sidelined, no one feels forced
- Of course, she also does it to present a friendly united front in the face of Stevron Frey, another case as in the Inn of the Crossroads where she reads the room
- And so Catelyn enters the room she will be brutally murdered along with her son and his bannermen two books from now, determined to make the most of it
- Part of why the Red Wedding hits so hard is that it’s seen through the eyes of someone who believed with all her heart that guest right would keep her son safe
- As we’ve said before, Cat isn’t nihilistic nor greedy about power structures, she sincerely believes feudalism’s overlapping protections produce good outcomes
- She knows Walder is far more cynical, expressing again his humorously blunt conception of politics: we just compare sons and see who has more!
- But, again, that’s not an entirely inaccurate take on Westerosi politics
- He’s right, after all, that the lack of a Proper Lannister heir eats Tywin alive inside
- He’s also just the most blatant liar in the universe, and when he has to back up his protestation that he intended to join Edmure (why’d everyone else get there in time, then?) he looks to Jared, whom Davos will memorably call a liar in ADWD
- So Walder is being set up as the perfect candidate to break through all of Catelyn’s carefully nurtured beliefs about how the world should/does work
- On first read, though, Walder’s just a prick on every level--rude to her, rude to his family, rude about bastardy, creepy as hell about his young new wife
- Catelyn’s breakthrough comes from realizing that his rudeness is motivated by pride, and that pride can be used in her favor
- “If Lord Tywin wants my help, he can bloody well ask for it.”
That was all Catelyn needed to hear. “I am asking for your help, my lord,” she said humbly. “And my father and my brother and my lord husband and my sons are asking with my voice.”
- Robb’s breakthrough comes in backing up that voice; this is the first time he’s had to make a sacrifice as part of his campaign, and he does it without hesitation
- All this ties into the themes of his personal maturation and how Catelyn deals with that:
- He had never seemed more manly to her than he did in that moment. Boys might play with swords, but it took a lord to make a marriage pact, knowing what it meant.
Foreshadowing/Groundwork
Beyond the Red Wedding, the major foreshadowing that leaps out of Catelyn IX on reread is for Craster’s Keep. Here as there, you have the grotesque patriarch squatting in his chair, squinting and sneering at everyone who passes through his transitory domain, callously using and discarding women. That being said, there are a couple of interesting differences that we may be intended to notice. Craster sacrifices to the Others like Night’s King; Walder crowds his sons around him like the Rat Cook. They’re neighbors in the Nightfort’s rogue’s gallery, in other words, but not identical. More importantly, though, they have opposite fates as hosts in ASOS. Craster is killed by his guests; Lord Walder kills his guests. Echoes, mirrors, ripples, etc.
But speaking of Red Wedding foreshadowing, we do have to talk it, right, Emmett!? Right!?
Lord Walder is my father’s bannerman. I have known him since I was a girl. He would never offer me any harm … unless he saw some profit in it.
Add to that Walder’s comment that Lord Tywin can ask for his help if he wants it...and he will, after the Blackwater and Robb’s wedding to Jeyne Westerling.
On a lighter note, I believe this qualifies as our first mention of Aunt Genna, who is the best!
In terms of the “Who killed Jon Arryn plot?” GRRM does a masterful job throughout this book of spreading the clues in as to who actually killed Jon Arryn. Here, we get the “motive.” We’ve already gotten the means from Pycelle back in Eddard VI and VIII (The Tears of Lys), but now we see why Lysa killed Jon Arryn: it was because Jon Arryn was going to send Sweetrobin away to foster at Dragonstone.
Theory/Discussion
Should Robb have kept to the marriage vow he makes to Walder Frey in this chapter through thick and thin...or, as Catelyn will think to herself in ASOS, should he have instead broken it with a more powerful family than the Westerlings (like say the Tyrells) if the opportunity rose (heh)?
- On the one hand, it’s good for Robb to be seen keeping his word, even more than for your average powerful lord, because Robb is trying to set up a whole new polity
- That will require a lot of people trusting his word, even his enemies to a certain extent--when he sends that peace deal to Cersei in ACOK, he’s asking for trust
- Moreover, as Jon says in Season 7, there’s a larger social decay that sets in when a society built on guest right, honorable treatment, etc. starts to abandon all that
- However, as Tyrion argues, there’s still a question of when and how you take that stand
- Breaking a marriage vow is bad, but (crucially) it’s not Red Wedding level bad
- When Prince Duncan broke his marriage vow, the Laughing Storm didn’t respond by killing his bodyguard and soldiers and mother, shattering guest right in the process
- Walder is fueled by an unusual amount of bad faith, and that’s known even before the Red Wedding...so maybe Robb shouldn’t worry too much about keeping a deal with him
- Machiavelli would argue that even an honest man must lie when dealing with a notorious liar like Walder Frey, lest he be caught at an inevitable disadvantage
- And while GRRM probably wouldn’t go that far, I do think he had Catelyn think wistfully of the Robb-Margaery match that could’ve been to let us know it was a possibility
- On the other hand, a Robb-Margaery match after Renly’s death probably wasn’t in the works even if Robb hadn’t bedded and wedded poor Jeyne and even if Tyrion hadn’t dispatched Littlefinger to offer Joffrey as Margaery’s next royal husband instead
- Why is that? Because Catelyn was in Renly’s tent when the shadowbaby struck, and rather than stay to work out a deal with the Tyrells, she fled back to Riverrun
- And why did she do that? Well, it was partially out of sheer brain-scrambling terror at the sight of the shadowbaby, but it was also to save Brienne from paying for Renly’s death
- As such, she became a suspect in Renly’s death, and the potential Stark-Tyrell marriage alliance (which could’ve smashed Tywin and Stannis both) withered on the vine
- A classic case of how mercy can screw up your political goals, but also work for the long-term benefit, as we see with Brienne’s determination to protect Cat’s daughters
Conclusion
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