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Prologue
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Game of Thrones, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Politics and Power
Climate Change and Collective Action
Gender and Power
Honor and Integrity
Identity
Summary
Analysis
Bran Stark goes with 20 others to see a man beheaded. It’s the first time Bran has gone with his father and brothers to see the king’s justice enacted. His father is Eddard Stark, or Ned, who is the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. Bran is with his brother, Robb, and his half-brother, Jon Snow, who is a “bastard” because he was born out of wedlock. Robb says that the man being executed is a wildling who serves Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall. Rumors and stories say the wildlings are cruel thieves who enslave and murder others at will. And they kidnap women and sell them to the Others.
This section introduces several of the novel’s most important characters, including Ned, Robb, and Jon Snow. Notably, as soon as Jon Snow is introduced, the novel describes the circumstances of his birth. This reinforces the rigid hierarchical structure that determines socioeconomic standing in Westeros. In Jon’s case, it becomes immediately clear that, even though he lives with the Stark family, he has a different status than his half-siblings.
Themes
Ned Stark takes hold of the executioner’s sword and will execute the man himself. The man is missing both of his ears from frostbite. Jon Snow tells Bran not to look away, or else Ned will know that Bran didn’t watch. Ned lowers the sword to the man’s neck. The man’s head rolls down the hill, and Ned’s ward, Theon Greyjoy, kicks the head. Jon mutters a disparaging comment about Theon that only Bran can hear. After the execution, Ned asks Bran if he knows why the man had to die. Bran says because he was a wildling who would have kidnapped women to sell to the Others. Ned tells Bran that in truth, the man deserted the Night’s Watch. Since he had deserted, the man knew his life was forfeit, so nothing would stop him from committing the most heinous crimes.
The fact that the man being executed is missing both ears and that he deserted the Night’s Watch shows that he is Gared. Previously, the narration described Gared as a 40-year veteran of the Night’s Watch, so his desertion suggests that his encounter with the Others was something unlike anything he had seen before. That encounter was so frightening that it drove him to abandon his post, even though it meant almost certain death. Jon’s instruction to Bran not to look away from the execution points to the theme in the novel about facing difficult truths head-on instead of avoiding them.
Themes
Ned also asks Bran if he knows why he (Ned) carried out the execution himself. Bran says he doesn’t why, and Ned tells him that if a person is going to take a man’s life, they owe it to him to look him in the eyes and hear his last words. If they can’t do that, he says, then the man may not deserve to die. Robb calls out that he’s found something. Bran and Ned rush to see what it is, and they find Robb on the bank of the nearby river, pointing to a gigantic wolf that has died. The wolf is bigger than Bran’s pony, and its fur is matted with ice. Jon says it’s a direwolf.
Ned stands as a beacon of honor and integrity throughout the novel. Here, that honor manifests itself in his stated belief that a leader must carry out the most difficult tasks themselves. In other words, Ned says that as a leader, one cannot ask those one leads to do anything one would not do oneself. Here and elsewhere, the novel contrasts Ned’s leadership qualities with those of several other characters. Here, the novel implicitly contrasts Ned’s approach to leadership with the poor leadership displayed by Waymar Royce.
Themes
Theon says that direwolves haven’t been spotted south of the Wall for over 200 years. Jon says that they’re looking right at one. Ned examines the body of the direwolf and finds a deer antler through its throat. Bran notices that Robb is cradling something in his arms. When Bran moves closer, he sees that it’s a pup. Robb says there are four others. Theon says the pups will die since their mother is dead. Ned agrees and says that it would be merciful to kill the pups quickly rather than let them die from cold and starvation. Bran and Robb object, but Ned responds that there’s no way to keep them alive.
The fact that direwolves haven’t been seen south of the Wall for 200 years until now points to the impacts of the climate change that Westeros is presently experiencing. The novel implicitly asks, if direwolves can now travel south of the Wall, what else might soon travel south of the Wall? That question hints at the risk that the Others might soon pose to those south of the Wall.
Themes
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Jon speaks up. He says that Ned has five “trueborn” children and there are five pups. What’s more, the direwolf is the symbol of the Stark house. Jon says that Ned’s children are meant to have the direwolves. Bran recognizes what Jon has done. He’s left himself out of the count of Ned’s children to save the wolf pups. Ned agrees to bring the pups back to the castle (which is called Winterfell) but says that the children will have to take care of the pups themselves. He doesn’t want the work falling to the servants. Bran and Robb are overjoyed. As the group rides away from the direwolf, they hear a whimpering sound. They turn back and find a sixth pup. This one is white with red eyes, while the other five are grey. Jon takes that pup as his own.
This section shows Jon’s tendency to sacrifice himself for the good of others. That propensity, the novel suggests, is a sign that he, like his father Ned, has innate leadership qualities. But Jon’s maneuver here requires him to diminish himself on account of his lower social status—he is not Ned’s “trueborn” son. That points to the indignities that Jon must suffer, apparently on a daily basis, because he was born out of wedlock. The novel gradually shows the toll that those indignities take on Jon.
Themes
