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Chapter 33: 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 those she is with finally reach the Vale on their way to the Eyrie, the castle where Catelyn’s sister Lysa went after Jon Arryn’s death. The Eyrie is still a day’s travel away. Ser Rodrik has a fever from wounds he sustained during the battle with the mountain clan. At the gate to the Vale, Ser Brynden Tully, Catelyn’s uncle, greets her. Brynden tells her that she may be surprised by what she finds at the Eyrie. Her sister, Lysa, has seemed unwell since Jon Arryn’s death. Her six-year-old son, Robert Arryn, seems sickly and often bursts into tears. Moreover, there has been a parade of potential suitors who would like to become the rulers of the Eyrie as a result of marrying Lysa.
Catelyn has based her suspicions of the Lannisters in general and her arrest of Tyrion in particular in large part on her sister Lysa’s word, as Lysa initially told Catelyn that she suspected the Lannisters killed Jon Arryn. Now, Catelyn learns from her uncle, Brynden, that Lysa might not be in her right mind, casting some level of doubt on the facts that Catelyn has, up to this point, taken for granted to be true.
Themes
Catelyn, Brynden, and the others stop for the night before the last stretch of the climb to the Eyrie, high up in the mountains. As they’re about to set up camp, a woman named Mya Stone finds them and tells them that Lysa wants to see Catelyn immediately. Catelyn and Brynden think it’s madness. Catelyn has been riding for days, and the ascent to the Eyrie is virtually impossible to do in the dark. Mya tells them not to worry. She has done the climb countless times, and she’ll ensure that Catelyn is safe.
Lysa, presumably driven by her mental instability, reveals that she tends to put others at risk to meet her whims. In this case, she compels her sister Catelyn to make a perilous trip in the dark against Catelyn’s wishes, showing that Lysa may be a callous decision-maker who has little regard for how her actions impact others.
Themes
The climb to the Eyrie is treacherous. Catelyn thinks on multiple occasions that she’s not going to make it, and Mya has to physically help her in the last stages of the climb. When Catelyn arrives at the Eyrie, Lysa at first seems excited to see her. But Lysa quickly drops the façade. She menacingly asks Catelyn why she brought Tyrion to her kingdom and dragged her into Catelyn’s problems. Lysa says she wants to avoid the Lannisters at all costs. Catelyn can’t believe what she’s hearing. As they talk, Lysa begins breastfeeding her son, Robert Arryn, who is six years old. Catelyn is taken aback. Robert Arryn asks if Tyrion is a bad man, and Lysa says he is. Robert Arryn then says that they should make him fly.
Lysa’s response to Catelyn is almost the opposite of what Catelyn expected. Catelyn had thought Lysa would welcome news that Tyrion, who might have been involved in Jon Arryn’s death, is now a prisoner at the Eyrie. Lysa’s response demonstrates her capriciousness and erratic behavior, but it also shows that, at this point, she seems more concerned with herself and her son than in any sense of duty, justice, morality, or the welfare of others—even those who might be close to her, like her sister Catelyn.
Themes
