Fromstormsend - Argella Durrandon

把它烧了吧

I like Henry Cavill as Robert Baratheon’s portrait but Aaron got me first sight!

Aaron at the Venice Film Festival August 2024 😍 he looks so good 😍❤️‍🔥

“I trust my father, and I trust my mules. I won't fall.”

Sooo… I feel like ranting a little bit, if you follow me you know why. I don't have the virtue of synthesis. And sorry for spelling mistakes, it's late and my English sucks.

About Gendry:

I don't understand how two friends who playfully beat and tickle each other can "look like rape". “Gendry invited Arya to a secluded place and then he pushed her to the ground” but that's not what happened. Arya is upset about the things she overheard being discussed at dinner and she goes out alone in a place she doesn't know. Gendry joins her and to distract her suggests they go and visit the forge together. He starts a conversation talking about Thoros and Robert. Considering the topic and the fact that a few chapters later he will ask to join the BWB, I think it's reasonable to assume that Gendry was pondering his decision to leave Arya and that he wanted to talk to her about it. It's only when ther is a misunderstending and Arya suggests that he goes to Riverrun and serve her brother that Gendry decides to let it go and change the subject. Secondly, it's not Gendry who pushes Arya to the ground. What happens is that Arya pushes Gendry against the anvil and when he grabs her hand, she kicks him which makes them fall both on the ground.

When Lem confronts Gendry that he tried to take advantage of her, Arya defends him against the accusation. There's no reason to believe that after spending all this time witnessing rape and abuse Arya wouldn't be able to recognize Gendry's intentions if they were less noble. Arya trusts Gendry also because he has spent so much time alone with her, but he has never taken advantage of it. The most emblematic scene is the one in which he confesses to her that he knows she's a girl. The two are alone in the forest and Arya remembers “This lot, half o' them would turn you over to the queen quick as spit for a pardon and maybe a few silvers. The other half'd do the same, only they'd rape you first. Only Gendry was different”. Furthermore, it is in fact Gendry that defends Arya from unwanted sexual advances at the Peach. Then you say “That scene had its function. Because it made Arya look like a victim of sexual abuse.”. What's kind of function is that?

About My Featherbed:

The song is about “a Targaryen prince in love with a girl from the North.”? Is it? I can vaguely understand how the Maiden of the tree can be interpreted as "from the North" because trees are linked to the religion of the Old gods, but the symbolism does not add up. The Maiden of the song wears a dress of golden leaves, while weirwood's leaves are red. Lyanna was associated with a weirwood tree, not a tree with golden leaves. The Maiden of the tree is clearly Arya, just a page before George highlights it by making her say "I look like an oak tree". (I would add that Arya is a little girl and is dressed as a green 'oak tree' in summer, while the woman in the song is a maiden and is dressed as a golden 'oak tree' in autumn).

Then I absolutely do not understand how someone can read about a Lord who wants to dress his beloved with yellow silk and a crown and think: he is clearly a Targaryen prince !!! Especially when Gendry is a Baratheon bastard who feels inadequate and the sigil of that house is a crowned stag in a yellow field. Finally, the concept of dressing the bride and making a vow to protect her recalls the foundation of house Baratheon with Orys covering Argella. What do the Targaryens have to do with all of this?

About the love triangle:

I understand the Arya-Lyanna parallels because the writer himself draws it. Gendry-Robert seem more foils than parallels. The two look alike, but where the father's hammer destroys the son's hammer builds, where Robert is friendly, greedy and lustful, Gendry is grumpy, pragmatic and green. If Robert didn't know Lyanna, Gendry instead stood by Arya at her lowest. What I don't understand is the Jaqen-Rhaegar parallelism. I guess they are both handsome and mysterious, but what do they have in common really?

At most the Hound should be parallels because he kidnaps (in this case for real) Arya and Gendry seems to be ready to beat him up as soon as he sees his helmet reappear. Edric Dayne could provide a parallel because he has Valyrian colors, makes the blacksmith jealous and Arya seems to get along with him. Or in the future the Rhaegar parallel could be Jon Snow or Aegon/Griff. But regardless of who could be the third pole of this hypothetical triangle, the dynamic is totally different, because Gendry and Arya are not two strangers socially bound by a betrothal, but two friends hindered by the difference in social class.

About the future:

The source is: “Okay so GRRM, arrived in Toronto yesterday for a book signing and unfortunately because of an exam, I was unable to attend (BOO!) so I asked my friend to ask him about Gendry and Arya's "relationship" and if they would ever reunite again. His response was that Arya and Gendry have separate futures but whether they'll ever meet up again, you'll just have to keep reading.” The statement is quoted only by one person who was not even present to hear it and they don't quote Martin's exact words. Also this answer sounds particularly spoilery by George's standards so I don't know if it's reliable. BUT I don't think it's that important.

Nothing prevents Gendry from being Arya's love interest anyway, not all the relationships we see in the books will survive the endgame, but that doesn't make them any less significant. “There won't be any baby. If Arya is going to be a mother someday, Jaqen will father her child/children.” Arya will not have a baby in story because at the end of ADOS she won't be more than 13 years old. So I'd say that whichever ship you prefer we shouldn't expect to see anything beyond hugs, holding hands and maybe a kiss.

About Jaqen:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't understand talking about Jaqen as if he were a person. We don't even know if that's his real face and since it's an FM it's probable that that's not his real name. I don't believe that man is Jaqen any more than he is the Alchemist. Also some words from the Kindly man seem to imply that the FMs must be sterile, but maybe it's just my impression.

George may have mentioned that Arya and Gendry have separate futures, but I'm pretty sure he never said anything about an Arya-Jaqen reunion.

About Jamie:

“Rosey is a foil for Arya, Pate is a foil for Jaqen and Lazy Leo is a foil for Jaime.” and “Patchface is a foil for Jaqen and Owen the Oaf is a foil for Jaime.”. I don't understand by what logic you can draw these parallels between characters, these guys have nothing in common with each other. Foreshadowing is not simply substituting one name for another and expecting this to be proof that other unrelated characters may find themselves in the same situation in the future.

I think that when discussing possible future situations the characterization of the characters as they have been constructed up to now cannot be completely ignored. Why would Jaime be in a position to tell Jaqen that he wants to rape Arya. It seems to me out of character for Jaime would seriously consider raping a girl the age of his daughter. But then, has he ever even had sex with a woman who wasn't his sister? When has he ever looked at a young girl and thought: you know what? Now I think I'm going to rape her. For heaven's sake he's certainly not a saint, but he's not the Mountain. Such an initiative goes against the characterization of Jaime as we have known him up to now.

As for “a foreshadowing of a Lannister raping Arya in the Mercy chapter from The Winds of Winter” I have another interpretation. The staged rape of Bobono (Tyrion) and Arya (innocent girl) mirrors the staged rape of Arya (Mercy) and Raff (who lies to Mercy saying he is westerosi lord).

The end. I think I said it all, I vented enough. Thanks for reading and sorry for the length. Good night!

Robert Baratheon & Lyanna Stark - Shared Last Words.

‘Promise me, she had cried, in that room that smelled of blood and roses. Promise me, Ned.’ - A Game of Thrones, Eddard I

‘“Serve the board at my funeral feast,” Robert rasped. “Apple in its mouth, skin seared crisp. Eat the bastard. Don’t care if you choke on him. Promise me, Ned”‘ -A Game of Thrones, Eddard XIII

BONUS:

“I will give Lyanna your love, Ned”  -Robert Baratheon, A Game of Thrones, Eddard XIII

“He loved her, and would love her; and defy her, and this miserable bodily pain.”

Robert&Lyanna “North and South” AU by Elizabeth Gaskell.