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Chapter 42: 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
Ned sits on the king’s throne—the Iron Throne—administering the king’s justice while King Robert is off on a hunting trip. Ned hears the complaint of townspeople who say that Lannister men recently raided their village. Those raids killed several people. When Ned asks if the men carried banners or if there were any signs that they were Lannister men, the people say no. Ned thinks that Tywin Lannister is attacking various parts of Riverrun (Catelyn’s homeland) to try and stretch Riverrun troops thin. The Lord of Riverrun is now Catelyn’s brother, Edmure. Ned thinks Tywin is attacking without banners and proclamations so that if Riverrun retaliates, Tywin can say that the Tullys (whose homeland is Riverrun) started the fight, not the Lannisters.
The conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters continues to escalate. Notably, this chapter is told from Ned’s point of view. As a result, the Lannisters are again portrayed as the clear instigators of this new level of conflict, as they are attacking innocent people without declaring their identities in a ploy to trick the Tullys (who are aligned with the Starks) into attacking. That narrative technique suggests that history is often not based on a set of agreed-upon facts. Instead, the version of history one hears is often determined by who is telling or writing that history.
Themes
The townspeople say that the knights bore no identifying marks, but there was one knight who was impossible to miss. He was the largest man any of them had ever seen. Ned and members of the king’s council surmise that it must have been Gregor Clegane, also known as the Mountain. Ned decides that Gregor must be punished. He strips Gregor of his knighthood and sentences him to death. Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, steps forward to volunteer to administer Gregor’s death sentence. Ned believes that Loras wants vengeance, not justice, so he assembles an alternate team of men who will go kill Gregor Clegane.
The Lannisters' actions, and Ned’s response here, are all part of the “game of thrones,” a strategic political contest among various parties to try and achieve power. Ned seems to be playing the game with the assumption that there are rules that everyone recognizes. In this case, he believes that Gregor is guilty of a crime, so he must be punished. The novel suggests, though, that those rules and norms are ones that Ned imposes on himself. While they may signal his honor and integrity, they will not necessarily help him win the “game of thrones.”
Themes
