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Chapter 71: Catelyn
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
Dany builds a pyre for Khal Drogo and places his most prized possessions on it. But she holds back the weapons that were given to her as wedding gifts. Jorah is hesitant. He’s afraid that Dany will sacrifice herself on the pyre alongside her fallen husband, but Dany assures him that she’s not planning to do that. There are about 100 people left of the 40,000 who were once in Drogo’s khalasar. Dany addresses those 100 people and says that they are her khalasar now. She says that she sees enslaved people among them, and she frees those people. She says they are welcome to leave or stay as they see fit.
After Drogo dies, Daenerys assumes authority over the limited number of people left in Drogo’s khalasar. Daenerys immediately shows how she will be a different kind of leader than Drogo by setting free people previously enslaved under Drogo. This suggests that Daenerys may be a benevolent leader who is guided by morality and is willing to question previously held customs that don’t align with her sense of right and wrong.
Themes
Dany goes to three men, Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo, and asks them to be her bloodriders (people who swear to live and die with the person they protect). Dany gives them a gift of a weapon that she received for her wedding. Each man refuses, saying that they cannot swear that kind of oath to a woman. Jorah addresses Dany as “princess,” and Dany asks him why he calls her that. She tells Jorah that Viserys was the rightful king, and she is his heir, which makes the throne rightfully hers.
Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo’s rejection of Daenerys’s proposal for them to become her bloodriders reinforces the ingrained misogyny and sexism that is present in both Dothraki culture and in Westeros. That misogyny and sexism hold that women are not equipped for leadership. Similar to her decision to free enslaved people, Daenerys now establishes herself in opposition to the patriarchal systems of power that define Dothraki culture and Westeros.
Themes
Jorah hesitates for a moment before addressing Daenerys as his Queen. Dany asks Jorah to be the first member of her Queensguard, and Jorah accepts. When the pyre is ready, Dany commands those near her to put Mirri on the pyre. Dany thinks of what Mirri told her: the price of life is death. Dany throws oil onto the pyre and onto Mirri. She then thanks Mirri for teaching her a valuable lesson. Dany places the dragons’ eggs on Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre and lights it. She watches and listens to Mirri’s screams.
Jorah’s hesitation reflects the misogyny present in a patriarchal society. Though Jorah ultimately pledges fealty to Daenerys, his initial hesitation shows the obstacles that Daenerys will have to overcome as she becomes a leader. Namely, she’ll not only have to convince people that she is worth following, but she’ll also have to convince people that women are just as suited to leadership as men. Daenerys also enacts her revenge on Mirri, showing that while she (Daenerys) may be benevolent in some ways, she is also willing to use force and violence to get what she wants.
Themes
Dany doesn’t step away even as the flames grow and come closer to her. She then steps into the flames and hears Jorah calling out to her. In the flames, she sees a grey horse riding off. For a moment, she sees Khal Drogo riding the horse and smiling at her. Dany’s clothing catches on fire, and she shrugs it off. She hears three cracks, one after the other. When the flames die down, Jorah drags Dany out of the pyre. She is covered in soot but unharmed. Three dragons cling to her body. Jorah kneels. Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo each say, “Blood of my blood,” pledging their service to her. Dany knows the people who saw what happened will be hers forever. The dragons stir, and the music of dragons fills the night for the first time in centuries.
The novel suggests that Daenerys uses Mirri’s life to perform the same kind of spell that Mirri previously enacted. In this case, Daenerys trades Mirri’s death for the life of the three dragons. After Daenerys emerges from the fire unscathed, Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo say, “Blood of my blood,” meaning that they will become Daenerys’s bloodriders and will protect her with their lives. That change of heart is a sign that Daenerys can convince people to follow her, even those who just moments before dismissed the possibility of accepting her as a leader.
Themes
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