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Chapter 13: Tyrion
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
Catelyn hasn’t slept for weeks and has kept an almost constant vigil at Bran’s bedside. Maester Luwin comes to her and says that they need to replenish the castle’s stores after the visit from the king and his party. They’ll also need a new master of horses, as the previous one rode south with Ned. Catelyn can’t bear to be troubled with such mundane matters while Bran is on the brink of death, and she lashes out at Maester Luwin. Robb comes into the room then and assures Maester Luwin that he’ll look into what needs to be done.
The novel once again portrays Catelyn as fiercely protective of her children, as she stands vigil over Bran’s bed for weeks and barely gets any sleep. Notably, however, that protectiveness interferes with her ability to see to the day-to-day necessities in Winterfell, thus underscoring the novel’s broader focus on the incompatibility of power with morality. This passage also again implicitly contrasts Robb’s fate to Jon’s, as Robb can stay home in Winterfell, assume a leadership role, and take care of his family while Jon is banished to the Night’s Watch.
Themes
As Robb sits with Catelyn, Bran’s wolf howls. The other wolves join him, and they’re then joined by dogs too. Robb gets up to check what’s happening and sees that the library is on fire across the courtyard. He rushes out of the room to help extinguish the fire, leaving Catelyn alone with Bran. A man Catelyn doesn’t recognize enters the room after Robb leaves. The man repeatedly says that Catelyn isn’t supposed to be there. He rushes at Catelyn with a knife, and she uses all of her strength to fend him off. Bran’s wolf runs into the room. The wolf attacks the man and eventually kills him.
The man’s repeated utterance that Catelyn isn’t supposed to be there shows that he set the fire to cause a distraction and ensure that Bran would be alone. It also makes it clear that the attack had been coordinated and suggests that the assassin didn’t act alone. Instead, it seems that someone gave him a plan and told him that no one would be in the room with Bran, hence his repeated surprise at seeing Catelyn.
Themes
Afterward, Catelyn talks with Robb, Theon, and Ser Rodrik about what happened. No one knows who the man is. They think he must be one of the king’s men, or one of the Lannisters’ men and that he stayed behind after the king left. He had been hiding in the stables, where they found a buried bag of money. Ser Rodrik says that the man’s knife is a remarkable weapon made with Valyrian steel. Catelyn says that the man had been there to kill Bran.
The bag of money again suggests that someone else coordinated the plan to kill Bran and paid the man to carry out the act. The value of the dagger, along with the money, also points to the idea that whoever tried to kill Bran is wealthy. The fact that the man had been trying to kill Bran invites the question of who would want Bran dead.
Themes
The others express their disbelief, and Catelyn swears them to secrecy before telling them about Lysa’s message, which claimed that the Lannisters killed Jon Arryn. Catelyn says she suspects that Bran didn’t fall. Instead, she says, Jaime Lannister pushed him. Robb, Theon, and Ser Rodrik say that that’s a grave accusation, but Ser Rodrik adds that the proof of it is in the man’s knife. Catelyn says that she must go to warn Ned about what has happened. She’ll go on back roads and try and catch up with the king’s procession without attracting attention. Ser Rodrik says that he’ll accompany her.
The novel has shown that Catelyn is predisposed to dislike the Lannisters. In this case, though, her animosity toward the Lannisters leads her to the correct conclusion: that Jaime pushed Bran, which led to Bran’s coma. The reader knows that is true, though no characters in the room know it for a fact, setting up an instance of dramatic irony.
Themes
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