A few words about Catelyn Stark

[dolorosa_12]

She is my favourite character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, and while I don't imagine I'm likely to change any minds, I feel the need to rant a bit.


The majority of the Catelyn-bashers dislike her because she supposedly made stupid tactical decisions. But the opposite is true! The people around Catelyn make stupid tactical decisions and she's left to pick up the pieces. Her husband puts honour before reason, and he is killed for it, leaving Catelyn and their sons vulnerable and with no other option but to fight. She manages to capture both Tyrion and Jaime Lannister, but Tyrion is lost due to her sister Lysa's incompetence, and Jaime due to forces beyond Catelyn's control. Capturing both men with the intention to use them as hostages and bargaining chips was a smart move and could've seen the release of her own daughters from Lannister hands.

She gets the Freys on side - an enormous tactical advantage - only to lose their support due to stupidity on the part of her son Robb, stupidity which costs him his life and irreparably damages the Stark cause. Do you see where I'm going with this? Every 'tactical blunder' that ASoIaF fans use as a stick with which to beat Catelyn is actually someone else's fault. Catelyn herself has the misfortune of being more sensible and more pragmatic than the people around her, but lacks the power in her own right to enforce her decisions. She has to go along with what Ned, Robb and her Tully relatives want.

She can be justifiably criticised for her treatment of Jon Snow, but then everyone hates Jon Snow. Even Jon Snow hates Jon Snow.

Also, I skipped most of the Daenerys chapters because I find her tediously boring. Which, considering where I think the series is heading, could be a problem.

Comments

[isigfethera.livejournal.com]

I liked Jon Snow. Although I'm behind on both the books and the series. But I also found Daenerys pretty boring. I was amazed to read an article someone wrote about how she was their favourite character. I much preferred Arya.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I meant, rather flippantly, that no one within the narrative likes Jon Snow, with the possible exceptions of Arya and Sam. A lot of people seem to like Daenerys, though. I wonder if my problem is that her part of the story is so removed from the others, simply because she's on another continent.

[isigfethera.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think your right. In my memory the whole Daenerys storyline just consists of her staring into the distance, dreaming of a homecoming. That's not particularly accurate, but I really felt like all the chapters with her were just waiting for the moment when her story would actually become relevant. That was kind of true of Jon Snow too, actually. When do the dragons and the ice creatures actually happen?

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I found Jon more interesting when he was at Winterfell and angsting about being illegitimate than when he was at the Wall and being competent.

When do the dragons and the ice creatures actually happen?

If I recall correctly, towards the end of the first book, but I might be wrong.

[isigfethera.livejournal.com]

I think they are there, but then they don't do anything for ages, they just slooooowly encroach/loom over the story. But then I can't even remember how many of the books I've read, so my memory for the details is obviously not great. I remember a sense of "but what about the monsters? will they actually be relevant?". Gah maybe I will wait until the series is finished then reread them/read them all.

[pink-dragon22.livejournal.com]

Kind of late here, but which book are you up to? I started A Feast for Crows yesterday, after giving myself a few days to get over ALL THE EMOTIONS I felt after A Storm of Swords.

And interesting what you say about Daenerys. I found myself sighing whenever I'd see her name at the beginning of a chapter, as I found them mostly boring... but once I'd get near the end of each chapter, I'd find myself interested in her story again. But then it was like I forgot I was interested in it when it came time for her next chapter? It was a very strange experience, and I think for me it was partially because I'd get so caught up in the goings on of everyone in Westeros, and she is kind of detached from it all, at this stage anyway. Plus I don't know if I even like her. Although Barristan omg.

I can't even talk about Catelyn right now because the Red Wedding still makes my heart hurt and I am in a glass case of emotion. I did find it fantastic/heartbreaking at how foreshadowed it all was though. Hello Dany seeing it in the House of Undying, or whatever it was called.

And then the epilogue and I can't even.

GRRM is destroying me, basically.

[dolorosa-12.livejournal.com]

I've read the whole series. I think it's interesting what you say about being bored by Daenerys' chapters until they conclude. I think that's a feature of GRRM's writing style, in that he changes point-of-view at exactly the point where you're gripped by a particular character's story, so as to keep you turning the pages. (This is very common in books with multiple points of view.)

My boyfriend told me he threw the book against the wall when it came to the Red Wedding. For my part, I had worked out exactly what was going to go down, but I was literally screaming at the book to make it otherwise. There was a certain inevitability about it, though.

GRRM is a life-ruiner. It doesn't help that he takes about a million years to finish a book.