Again, I shall warn of spoilers and general fangirlness. I'm talking about George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books and discussing my favorite stories within the context of each book. Tonight we'll be talking about book two, A Clash of Kings. There are a lot of people who dislike the later books in the series, but I have to be honest, the second book is my least favorite. It's not that it was a bad book, it just doesn't have, in my mind, the same level of impact as the others. Having said that, and even despite that, it still has one of my favorite overall stories in the series.
In A Clash of Kings, Martin takes one of the traditional tropes, the fairy tale, and turns it on its head. Actually, to be fair, he chops it up into a million pieces, tosses it in a blender, and then pours it onto a dirty floor and sets it on fire. What he does is really, truly, a brutal story. It works though, so very, very well.
Fairy tales can contain a lot of different elements, but most of them usually stay true to the form. There is a child, quite often orphaned or at least separated from parents, who is in jeopardy (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel) . The child is often of royal blood, but may be assuming a disguise (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty). They will often perform tasks that are beneath someone of their station (Snow White, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel). And many times, a magical being comes into their lives who aids them in their story, the fairy godmother if you will.
In the second book, this is very much the situation of Arya Stark. Arya is a princess who is disguised as a boy (then later as a commoner girl). She has recently escaped from King's Landing, after watching her father be publicly executed. Her mother is far from her and she is more or less on her own. She forms a bond with Yoren, but he is quickly killed. Soon she and her two companions find themselves with other unfortunates in the castle at Harrenhal.
Arya is forced to become a servant girl. She works hard for a very horrible little man who lords himself over the serving staff like a dictator. He has no idea who she is, of course, which is good, as the castle is under the control of people who want her family dead. Like many children in fairy tales, Arya is smart and capable, but quite far out of her wheelhouse. What she needs is a fairy godmother.....or godfather.
Or at least someone who is good at killing people.
When Arya was traveling with the Night's Watch, there was a cage with three men in it. Two were crazyfest brutes. The third was a beautiful man who spoke in a sing song kind of way who introduced himself to Arya as Jaqen H'ghar. When Yoren was killed, the cage containing the three men was set on fire. Arya saved them from burning to death (a decision that will have many, many consequences for a long time) and didn't think much about them past that.
But Jaqen thinks about her. He finds her again when she is working at Harrenhal and tells her that because she saved the three of them from death, he will kill any three people for her. All she has to do is tell him a name and the person will die. Suddenly, like the children in fairy tales, Arya has a bit of power on her side. And like many children, she doesn't use it as wisely as she could.
The first death was perhaps a test to see if Jaqen was serious...she asked him to kill Chiswyck, a man who bragged about being part of a gang rape. When he died, she suddenly realized Jaqen was true to his word, and true to his skill. Unfortunately, the second death was spoken out of rage She spoke the name of the abusive taskmaster who was making her life a living hell as she worked as a servant. Once he was dead, she realized she was wasting her 'deaths' and begged Jaqen to help her free the people loyal to her family who were being held prisoner in the castle.
Jaqen refused to do this, but then Arya named his own name as the third death. He struck a deal with her to help free the prisoners if she would 'unname' him as the last kill. She did and he devised a plan to do as she asked. Harrenhal was liberated and her people were free.
And while this liberation doesn't bring Arya the happy ending she wanted, it does end her time with Jaqen H'ghar. But before he goes, he gives her just a bit more magic. He changes the shape of his face in front of her and tells her that he will teach her these things if she ever wants to learn. He leaves her with a talisman, an iron coin of Bravos and tells her if she wants to find him again, to give that to the first Bravosi she finds and tells her what to say to them. And then, like a good fairy godparent, he is gone from her life.
Arya's story arch in the second book has been compared to The Killing Fields. It is a brutal, horrifying depiction of what war and chaos can do to an area. Arya witnesses gang rapes. She is beaten. She goes hungry and is forced on what is basically a death march. She sees people being tortured and sees murder after gruesome murder.
Yet, in the middle of all this harsh realism, all this brutality, Martin is able to weave a fairy tale, complete with many of the tropes of that genre. A young princess in hiding is given three wishes by a mysterious and magical being. She succeeds in her quest with him . . . it just isn't enough to save the day.
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