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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 arrives at Moat Cailin with Brynden. She’s pleased to see the Stark banners as well as those of the Stark bannermen. Moat Cailin isn’t at all what Brynden expected. It’s falling down and seems almost unusable. Only three towers remain, although there were once close to twenty. Still, Catelyn says that the fortress, which sits on a swath of land called the Neck, can be used to ward off large armies due to its strategic position. Catelyn is happy to see Robb, though she says that he should have stayed in Winterfell. But she’s not going to send him back—he needs the respect of his bannermen, both now and in the future, and sending him home would undermine that. Catelyn also says that she has sent Ser Rodrik back to Winterfell to assist Maester Luwin.
Catelyn’s discussion of the strategy of war resembles a chess match. Ned’s (failed) attempts to consolidate power in King’s Landing also resembled a chess match. The book’s portrayal of politics, power, and war as a game—as in the “game of thrones”—doesn’t mean that the stakes are low. Instead, the comparison between politics and a game makes it clear that there is a reward for winning—power. The comparison also points to the necessity of using strategy when trying to win that game.
Themes
Catelyn and Robb talk about military strategy. Robb shows Catelyn the letter he received from Sansa, and Catelyn says that it’s clear that it’s Cersei’s letter, not Sansa’s. She believes the Lannisters are holding Sansa hostage. Robb and his army have to march forward and take the fight to the Lannisters because they are low on supplies and the Lannisters threaten to overtake the Riverlands one castle at a time. Catelyn asks Robb what he plans to do. Robb lays out the strategies various bannermen have proposed, but Catelyn pushes Robb to take charge.
Catelyn’s assessment that the Lannisters are holding Sansa hostage seems true in some senses and inaccurate in others. On the one hand, it seems clear that Cersei has kidnapped Sansa and has no intention of letting Sansa go free. On the other hand, it’s not clear if Sansa knows that she is a hostage. Either way, Cersei continues to use Sansa as a pawn as she attempts to ensure that Joffrey maintains his place on the throne.
Themes
Catelyn asks again what Robb is going to do. Tywin commands one of the Lannister factions, while Jaime commands the other. Robb develops a plan to split the Lannister army in two using a river. To do that, he’ll send a main force to meet Tywin’s faction and a smaller group of riders to meet Jaime’s army. Robb will join the riders, which is the more dangerous option. That’s exactly what Ned would have done, Catelyn thinks.
Robb again demonstrates his idea that he should be willing to do anything that he would ask the men he leads to do, even if it’s dangerous. That reinforces his (and Ned’s) ideas of honor, integrity, and personal responsibility, qualities that the novel suggests make one a good leader.
Themes
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