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Chapter 11: Daenerys
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
Robert wakes Ned from his tent in the middle of the night as they make their way to King’s Landing. Robert says he wants to talk to Ned privately. He says there are always people listening around camp, so they ride away from camp together. Robert bemoans his role as the king and talks about memories he and Ned have shared. He asks Ned about Wylla, who is Jon Snow’s mother, but Ned says he besmirched his and Catelyn’s honor by having sex with her and refuses to say more.
Robert reveals that since becoming king, he has grown less and less interested in the role. As his discussion of memories with Ned implies, he would rather live the wild life of his youth than be bound by the responsibilities that come with being king, suggesting that Robert may not be an especially effective ruler.
Themes
Robert tells Ned that he received a message in the middle of the night. It came from Lord Varys, the king’s master of whisperers. The message says that Daenerys Targaryen has married Khal Drogo, who has an army of 100,000 Dothraki warriors. Robert explains that the message originally came from Ser Jorah Mormont, who is looking for a pardon from the king after he illegally sold poachers to a slaver rather than handing them over to the Night’s Watch. Robert is worried about Dany’s marriage. He thinks Khal Drogo’s army might be a threat to him. Ned says that Robert shouldn’t worry because the Dothraki hate water and don’t have ships, so they won’t be able to cross the ocean to get to King’s Landing. Robert wonders what will happen if they find ships, though.
This passage sheds light on the differences between Ned and Robert. While Ned is content to let events play out as they may with regard to Daenerys, Robert’s mind immediately goes to the “game of thrones.” He is concerned that his power might one day be in danger. Notably, Robert’s fear comes just after he says he doesn’t much care for being king, suggesting that though he doesn’t enjoy the responsibilities that come with being king, he enjoys the privileges that power gives him.
Themes
Robert says he should have killed Viserys and Dany when he had the chance. Ned counters that killing children is vile, but Robert isn’t convinced. Robert also tells Ned that he’s going to appoint a new Warden of the East, now that Jon Arryn has died. He says he’s going to choose Jaime Lannister. Ned thinks this is a horrible idea but doesn’t tell Robert about the message from Lysa accusing the Lannisters of murdering Jon Arryn. Instead, Ned expresses his hesitance by reminding Robert of Jaime’s past. Jaime, the Kingslayer, killed the previous king, Aerys II Targaryen, even though he was sworn to protect him. And when Ned arrived in King’s Landing shortly after Jaime killed Aerys, Ned found Jaime sitting on the Iron Throne. Jaime got up after a moment and said he had just been keeping it warm for Robert.
In addition to power corrupting Robert in the sense that it has driven him from being a fearsome warrior to someone who is primarily concerned with personal gratification, power also seems to have corrupted Robert’s moral capacities. If he could go back in time, he says, he would murder Viserys and Daenerys when he had the chance, meaning when Daenerys was a baby and Viserys was eight years old, which is when they fled from Westeros. That highlights the novel’s portrayal of power as something that inherently corrupts both those who seek it and those who possess it.
Themes
Now, Ned tells Robert that he is also concerned that, if Jaime is Warden of the East, then the Lannisters will control half of the king’s armies, as Jaime’s father, Tywin, is already Warden of the West. Robert dismisses Ned’s concerns and rides away. Ned thinks he has no business being the Hand of the King. Robert will just do as he pleases, and Ned has no power to change his mind. His place, Ned thinks, is with Catelyn in Winterfell.
The novel again portrays Ned as a noble and virtuous person who has no interest in power. Considering that the novel has just depicted the corruptive forces of power, this passage implicitly asks whether someone as virtuous as Ned will escape the clutches of power unscathed or if he will fall prey to its corruptive forces like so many others before him.
Themes
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