"Shall I proclaim a new king as well?"Crakehall asked, and jaime read the
question plain: Shall it be your father, or Robert baratheon, or do you mean
to make a new dragonking? He thought for a moment of the boy Viserys, fled
to Dragonstone, and of Rhaegar's infant son Aegon, still in Maegor's with
his mother. A new Targaryen king, and my father as Hand. How the wolveswill
howl, and the storm lord choke with rage. For a moment, he was tempted,
until he glanced down again at the body on the floor, in its spreading pool
of blood. His blood is in both of them, he thought. "Proclaim who you bloody
well like," he told Crakehall. Then he climbed the Iron Throne and seated himself with his sword across his knees, to see who would come to claim the kingdom.The scene, perhaps foregin to one unfamiliar with the book, is monumental to the series. It is the first time the evil villan is shown as anything but heartless and cruel. Although including the entire chapter in this post is a task I have no desire to attempt, the justification for the murder of the king is stirring. The fact that he is tempted by the throne at first makes him all the more human, and easier to connect with. After this chapter, good and evil is not so black and white.
Martin, George. A Storm of Swords. New York, NY: Bantam Dell Inc. 2000
It is interesting to see how this will turn out. Since the king commited suicide, all of the other subjects and nobles would probably be scrambling to the position as king. It could, and probably would, become pretty nasty, as history shows in these types of situations.
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me most about this passage is the language: the diction and syntax are somewhat different from those of colloquial English today and seem to take on a poetically archaic character. Are the lines spaced that way in the book or is it just how the blog presented it? That would be very interesting to find out.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how the murderer didn't go ahead and take the crown for himself, which is what usually would occur in this situation. I do agree with lucas on the odd language in this book, they use more dependent clauses than normal, which gives it a slightly different feel.
ReplyDeleteI do have to agree with Clayton and Lucas, the language in this book is very odd, but very intriguing. Along with that there is a lot of the use of the word blood and bloody, giving us a very vivid description of the dead body.
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