Stirring Moments in ASoIaF

[Duff_Omathum]

One that moved me

"...All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be drwafs." And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast whistling a tune. When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.

A Game of Thrones
p.57

 

[Sword of the Morning]

Stirring moments.... well I dont have a book but, Bran's fall, Eddard's death (may be), Jon losing Yrgitte, Dany/dragons/ khal's death, and Renly's death-spooky!

 

[Culhwch]

Am I the only one who hated Ygritte with a passion?

Stirring moments for me: Jon's defence of the Wall. Davos on the Blackwater. Davos smuggling Edric off Dragonstone (I hope the ******* of Nightsong becomes a bigger character, if only cause he has the coolest name in the whole shebang....). Ned's recollection of the Tower of Joy.

I'm sure there are more. Will give it some thought.

 

[Summer]

Three signals of a horn. The Others are attacking...

 

[Culhwch]

Mormont's death was moving, though not stirring... Same for the Red Wedding.

 

[jnr_turtle]

Jaime's last conversation with Tyrion.

 

[cercar]

Littlefinger let Lysa sob against his chest for a moment then put his hands on her arms and kissed her lightly. "My sweet silly jealous wife," he said chuckling. "I've only loved one women, I promise you."

Lysa Arryn smiled tremulously. "Only one? Oh, Petyr, do you swear it? Only one?"

"Only Cat." He gave her a short,sharp shove.

 

[Winters_Sorrow]

"The rest was arrowheads, a torrent of arrowheads, a flood of arrowheads enough to drown the last few stones and shells, and all the copper pennies too.
When the count was done, Jon found himself surrounded. Some clapped him on the back, whilst others bent the knee to him as if he were a lord in truth.

...

So Jon Snow took the wineskin from his hand and had a swallow. But only one. The Wall was his, the night was dark, and he had a king to face."

A Storm of Swords p898-99

 

[Boaz]

Am I the only one who hated Ygritte with a passion?

Cully, you are not alone.

The worst thing about Ygritte... is that she falls for Jon. That's like Barbara Streisand falling for nine year old Macauley Maculkin... or Mary Kay Letourneau falling for Vili Fuulau... it's not a pretty picture anyway you look at it... and you know it'll end in disaster.

As for stirring moments... Tyrion leading the sortie when the Hound refuses, both of Tyrion's trials, Jaime losing a hand, Tyrion's patricide, Donal Noye's defence of the Wall, the Old Bear's murder, the Red Wedding, and Ser Jorah's wedding (wait, that one has not happened yet.)

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

Hear hear, Ygritte was absolutely repulsive. In fact, my little brother and my best friend and I all say "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" to each other just to piss each other off.

Stirring moments: the Red Wedding, the moment Jaime realizes what a cow Cersei is and what a cuckold he has been, Tyrion's ultimate betrayal by all he knew, Ned's death, Bran waking up, Sandor Clegane crying, Davos losing his sons, Daenerys losing Khal Drogo, Robert's love for Lyanna, the destruction of Winterfell and its people...

 

[Culhwch]

"The rest was arrowheads, a torrent of arrowheads, a flood of arrowheads enough to drown the last few stones and shells, and all the copper pennies too.
When the count was done, Jon found himself surrounded. Some clapped him on the back, whilst others bent the knee to him as if he were a lord in truth.

...

So Jon Snow took the wineskin from his hand and had a swallow. But only one. The Wall was his, the night was dark, and he had a king to face."

A Storm of Swords p898-99

Damn straight.

Hear hear, Ygritte was absolutely repulsive. In fact, my little brother and my best friend and I all say "You know nothing, Jon Snow!" to each other just to piss each other off.

Jon: You're not going to die.
Ygritte: You know nothing Jon Snow.
Me: Just bloody DIE already!

So annoying....

Back to stirring moments. Or not just one moment, but the last handful of Jaime PoV's in ASoS, where he reads over the White Book, thinks about his past, and resolves to restore his honour. He more or less casts Cersei aside, stands up to his father, dresses down Loras (little punk), frees Brienne and gifts her Oathkeeper, comes clean to Tyrion... Just all so good.

 

[Tyranus]

I too hated Ygritte.

Bran's awakening is one of the moments I find stirring in teh series. I also find just about all of Sansa's POV's stirring, as they stir up my hatred for her annoying behaviour.

 

[Jeroam]

Everybody hates the Sansa chapters. I hated the Sansa chapters too, until I reread the book and realized that her chapters really do give you the most clues about what's going on, its just that she has no idea. And of course she wouldn't, clearly good writing on George's part. Ygritte, I thought, was ok. I didn't hate her, but I didn't love her. I did hate Shae though, right away from the beginning.
Right, back on topic.
Favorite chapter in GoT, brilliant stirring moment, Arya's last dancing lesson.

"Arya child," he called out, never looking, never taking his eyes off the Lannisters, "we are done with dancing for the day. Best you are going now. Run to your father."
Arya did not want to leave him, but he had taught her to do as he said. "Swift as a deer." she whispered.
"Just so," said Syrio Forel as the Lannisters closed. ...
"Arya child, ... be gone now."
The first sword of Braavos does not run.

 

[donel noye]

for me its gotta be- the red wedding, ned starks execution,drogo's death, king robert beratheons death,mormonts death,when jon sent ghost away then when he came back,ygritte's death,tyrions last conversation with jaime,when tyrion killed shai ......

thats all i can think of for now.

 

[Boaz]

Welcome donel noye!

Actually, every time that Martin goes against the firmly established patterns of fantasy plots I'm thrilled. Martin uses our familiarity of the genre to set us up for dramatic reversals in his storyline.

Should I have forseen Ned's death? Probably, but I did not. Should I have forseen the deaths of Viserys, Drogo, Rhaego, Tywin, Robert, Robb, Catelyn, Shae, Oberyn, Lady, the Old Bear, Renly, Balon, and Lyssa? Probably, yet I was surprised at each. Authors usually have worked so hard to develop a character that they are loath to kill them. Martin has no such qualms. He is tied to the story, not to characters... and the story is great.

After reading certain chapters, I'd slap myself and say, "I should have seen that coming because it happened that way in another story." Ned is Duke Leto, Jon might be Paul Atreides, Maester Cressen is Thufir, Rickon is Mowgli, Stannis is Denethor, Bran is Daredevil/Pug, Varys might be the Count of Monte Cristo, Cersei is Cruella DeVille/Calypso/Cleopatra, Tywin was Toranaga, Drogo was Genghis Khan, Robert Arryn is Norman Bates, Tyrion is Prince John, Sansa is Maid Marian, Loras is Achilles, and Renly was Patroclus. There's nothing new under the sun, but when an author sneaks Napoleon, Goldilocks, and Thor into the Romance of the Three Kingdoms... well, now, the story can be very intriguing.

Blah, blah, blah...

 

[AryaUnderfoot]

Robert Arryn is Norman Bates.

Boaz, you're lucky I wasn't drinking coffee when I read that. My keyboard would be too sticky for me to type anymore. Ha, thanks to this forum I'm getting really good at laughing very loudly inside my head so that I won't get in trouble at work.

I definitely agree with you about what we would have seen coming with other authors. In my experience, Ned's coming death was so obvious to me, but my personal attachment to his character had me clinging desperately onto my hopes that he would live. I was in complete denial.

 

[Thadlerian]

I'd say a stirring moment was before Ned's execution, when he dreamed he was back in the Sack of King's Landing, and fought those three knights. Whenever someone remembers the Sacking, it turns out pretty strong.

But Tyrion in Joffrey's wedding was great too: "If I have to hear seven versions of that, I may go down to Flea Bottom and apologize to the stew."

 

[asdar]

The scenes that make this my favorite are the ones where the hated characters are.

Everyone hates Sansa but I love her. She's what a real noble born girl would act in my opinion. I love Arya and she's my favorite character but Sansa is more common and no less wonderful for her softness, also my opinion.

When Sansa builds the snow castle it's one of my favorite scenes. It's easy for a rock to be a rock but it's a lot harder for a rose to be a rock.

When Arya leaves Sandor dying is another scene that I love. It's not typical fantasy writing, most would make her the 'bigger' person and help him through his sickness and he'd see her goodness and change into the man we all want him to be. Blech, makes me want to puke with all the goodness.

I love that she left him, to me it gives the story a real depth. She's strong and smart in leaving him and it leaves a whole pile of tension between him and the Starks.

 

[Culhwch]

I'd say a stirring moment was before Ned's execution, when he dreamed he was back in the Sack of King's Landing, and fought those three knights. Whenever someone remembers the Sacking, it turns out pretty strong.

That would have been at the Tower of Joy, not the Sack of King's Landing. But a strong moment nonetheless...

"The Kingsguard does not flee."
"Then or now," said Ser Arthur. He donned his helm.
"We swore a vow," explained old Ser Gerold.
Ned's wraiths moved up beside him, with shadow swords in hand. They were seven against three.
"And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.
"No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "Now it ends."

 

[Thadlerian]

That would have been at the Tower of Joy, not the Sack of King's Landing. But a strong moment nonetheless...

Ah, yes, it might have been. I couldn't quite grasp all of it, I'll have to reread sometime in the future.

What was Tower of Joy? What happened there? How did it relate to the main conflicts?