Game of Thrones

The Horn of Winter by Robert Waldmann

HBO is rerunning Season Four today. In episode 3, "Breaker of Chains," Sandor Clegane and Arya Stark are taken in as guests by a good farmer loyal to the Tullys and his daughter. The farmer is religious and discusses the Red Wedding and how the Freys are cursed by the Gods because they violated Guest Rights.

And then Clegane turns around and violates Guest Rights by stealing the farmer's silver. Arya is upset at him. And - spoiler alert - Clegane doesn't make it through the season, thanks to Brienne of Tarth.

Along with Arya and the poor farmer, another good, kind person is Shireen Baratheon, daughter of Stannis. Shireen doesn't like how her father and Melisandre burned her uncle and others for being infidels and refusing to burn their idols to the Seven Gods. Her kindness and goodness leads her to a friendship with Ser Davos and in a discussion with him, she gives him the notion that the Iron Bank of Bravos isn't big on distinctions, just like Shireen's father, Stannis. Davos understands that the Iron Bank doesn't care who rules Westeros as long as they get paid. Davos will convince them that Stannis will pay them back for their support as the Lannisters have been weakened by Joffrey's death and Lord Tywin won't be around forever.

Jorah Mormont is one of my favorite characters. I always cut him some slack for informing on Daenerys. He didn't know her and wanted to get home. Did he inform for too long though? In episode 5, "First of His Name," though I noticed how we wavered from advising Daeneyrs to take King's Landing after learning that Joffrey Baratheon was dead. Barristan Selmy wanted to. Mormont wavered perhaps because he realized if they went back, Daenerys would learn the truth. I would like to believe he was so honorable and in love with Daenerys that he was giving his best council.

I love Davos, Stannis, Arya, Daario, Tyrion, Daenerys, Brienne and many others, but on the show Sansa really survives so much and remains good and kind. That last scene of her this season as she walks down the stairs in nice black clothes, one imagines you can see her aunt Lyanna in her, the dark beauty of the North who Rhaegar Targaryen started a war for.

Along with the karmic or God's justice the Hound suffers, the evil leader of the renegade Nights Watch at Craster's Keep encounters it as well, or just bad luck. He lectures Jon Snow about fighting with honor, when one of the abused women stabs him the back. Then as he turns, Snow gets him through the head. A man without honor has consequences to suffer as well. Or maybe it's just bad luck and bad things happen to everyone, good and bad, in Westeros.