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Chapter 8: Bran
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
Tyrion is reading when he hears a wolf howl. He has been up all night, as usual—he never sleeps much. He leaves his room for breakfast and finds Joffrey talking to Sandor Clegane, also known as the Hound. They’re talking about Bran’s recovery. It’s been four days, and Bran seems stable but is in a coma. Tyrion tells Joffrey that he (Joffrey) must go offer Ned and Catelyn his sympathy for Bran, but Joffrey says Bran means nothing to him. Tyrion slaps Joffrey, and Joffrey walks away. Tyrion then finds Jaime and Cersei eating together, and they’re also talking about Bran’s recovery. The Maester has said if Bran wakes up, he’ll never walk again. Tyrion says he wonders what Bran will say if he does wake up and watches Jaime and Cersei to see if they react. He notices that they exchange a furtive glance.
The narration once more portrays Joffrey as arrogant, entitled, and unfeeling. Notably, Tyrion is offended by Joffrey’s callousness, suggesting that he may feel genuine sympathy for Bran. The novel also portrays Tyrion as cunning. He deliberately puts Cersei and Jaime in a situation where he can test whether they’re guilty of Bran’s fall. From those efforts, Tyrion seems to learn that they are guilty, which, at this point, makes him the only person— aside from Bran, Cersei, and Jaime—who knows the truth about what caused Bran’s fall.
Themes
