A Game of Thrones: Chapter 13: Tyrion Summary & Analysis

Instead of traveling with the king’s procession, Tyrion goes with Ben and Jon Snow to see the Wall and the Night’s Watch. On their way, Tyrion sits up at night, reading a book about dragons. Tyrion recalls when he first went to King’s Landing and found the dragon skulls. They had once been in the main hall of the castle, but after Robert defeated the Targaryens, who had ridden the dragons, he moved the skulls to the basement. Some of the dragon skulls were 3,000 years old, and the most recent was a little more than a century old. The skulls got progressively smaller over time. Tyrion was fascinated by those skulls and by dragons growing up. But now there are no more Targaryen dragons and perhaps no more dragons at all.

Jon Snow finds Tyrion reading. The two begin talking, and Tyrion says that he knows Jon, like Tyrion himself, has felt a drive toward vengeance because of how he’s been treated, including how his father has banished him to the Night’s Watch. Jon says the Night’s Watch is a noble calling, but Tyrion says Jon’s too smart to believe that. Instead, Tyrion says, the Night’s Watch is a place for criminals and misfits. There’s no honor there, and it’s too cold to bear on top of that. Tyrion feels bad for what he’s said and moves toward Jon to apologize. Jon’s direwolf, Ghost, jumps up between Tyrion and Jon and knocks Tyrion over. He asks Jon to call Ghost off, and Jon does. He then helps Tyrion up and says he knows what Tyrion said about the Night’s Watch is true. Tyrion commends Jon for facing the difficult truth head-on.