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Chapter 27: Eddard
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 and Ser Rodrik are making their way back to Winterfell when it begins to rain. She tells Ser Rodrik that they’ll stay in an inn that night, as opposed to the side of the road, where they have been staying to avoid attracting attention. Catelyn hopes that her mud-stained attire will ensure that no one recognizes her. The inn is close to full because so many people are traveling to the tournament at King’s Landing, but Ser Rodrik and Catelyn manage to find a room next to the bell that tells the inn guests when meals are served.
This passage shows again how small, almost incidental events can have large, far-reaching consequences. In this case, Catelyn decides to stay at an inn when it starts raining. The decision seems innocuous enough, though the novel will explore the impossible-to-predict impacts of that small decision in the following chapters.
Themes
While Catelyn and Ser Rodrik are eating dinner, Tyrion walks into the inn accompanied by three members of the Night’s Watch. After Tyrion speaks to the innkeeper, he scans the room and meets Catelyn’s eyes before she can turn away. Tyrion remarks that it’s a pleasant surprise to see the Lady Stark after just missing her at Winterfell. Catelyn rises from her seat. She calls out to various people who she sees around the inn with sigils (the signs of their respective houses) that mark them as allies of her father. She asks them if they are true allies, and they each respond that they are. She then accuses Tyrion of conspiring to kill Bran, her seven-year-old son, and the people she called out to unsheathe their swords to place Tyrion under arrest. Catelyn says he will be taken to Winterfell to await the king’s justice.
Catelyn utilizes her own leadership qualities to enlist the help of her father’s allies in arresting Tyrion. Those leadership abilities subtly comment on the patriarchal hierarchies of Westeros. While Catelyn seems to have a capacity for leadership similar to that of her husband Ned, she would never be asked to serve in Ned’s role of the Hand of the King because of her gender. Notably, Catelyn arrests Tyrion based almost solely on Littlefinger’s assertion that the dagger used in the attempt on Bran’s life most recently belonged to Tyrion.
Themes
