Day Five: What is your favorite moment?
Clearly there are a lot of scenes in these books that could qualify as a favorite moment. I think in terms of every major character, there are scenes that have left me breathless with them, scenes that altered my perspective on them, and scenes that stuck with me for a long time. No, actually, the truth is, there are scenes that were written so well that they sunk into my bones and became part of who I am.
I could talk about how much I love the moment when Jaime realizes he has to go back and save Brienne and everything that comes from that. I could talk about Bran leaving Winterfell in ruins, but knowing that it was broken but not dead, just like him. I could talk about so, so many scenes with Davos and so many scenes with Dany. I could discuss Cersie's walk of shame, which I will probably discuss later in this challenge. I could talk about the Red Wedding or the Red Viper or Sam meeting up with Bran.
In A Dance with Dragons, a lot of the most beautifully written scenes of the series happen. Dance is a difficult book for a lot of people. It took forever for GRRM to finish and what happens in it wasn't what people expected to happen or even wanted to happen. Dance is a book about failures, really. Jon fails as Lord Commander. Dany fails as Queen of Meereen. Davos feels he has failed Stannis and his wife. Cersie faces her darkest hour. Quentin fails in his father's mission. Tyrion fails at basically everything he tries.
The biggest failure in the book is the surprising continuation of a story that started as the biggest failure in A Clash of Kings. In Clash, Theon Greyjoy betrayed Robb, disobeyed his father, and then lost everything. He destroyed Winterfell, helped to ruin Robb, and started the chain of events that led to the Red Wedding. I assumed he was dead by this point. Most people assumed this.
Theon wasn't dead though. He'd been taken prisoner by the evil sadist Ramsay and suffered physical and emotional abuse. He'd had various parts of his body flayed and then removed. He was missing various fingers and toes, most of his teeth, and his genitals. He was a broken man who didn't even answer to his own name anymore. He was terrified of Ramsay and now existed as Ramsay's creature.
Theon is used for several things in Dance. He is used to betray more Ironborn. He is used to help convince people that Jeyne Poole is Arya Stark. He is used by various Northern lords as part of their political games, most of which he doesn't even understand. He is then used as part of the plot to free Jeyne.
My favorite moment, which I believe is a defining and turning point moment for Theon, is when he finds himself alone in the Godswood, beneath the Heart Tree. He isn't a follower of this religion, though truthfully, he's never been a serious follower of the religion of the Ironborn either.
While he is beneath this tree, he begins to think about the Starks and how they were his true family. He realizes that he loved Robb as his best friend and his brother, and that he should have died with him at the Red Wedding. Theon begs for forgiveness for all the damage he has caused. In that moment, he begins to shed all the damage that Ramsay has caused and begins to think for himself again. He begins to act on behalf of others and try to do what he believes to be right.
What is so beautiful about this moment is that GRRM hits on a universal truth that it sometimes takes people forever to realize. Failure happens all the time. Sometimes are failures are small and easily dismissed. Sometimes our failures do so much damage we can't even begin to process a way to get past it. But even in the midst of the most devastating failure, we can find redemption. We can find forgiveness. We can choose to turn our lives around, stop wallowing in everything we've done wrong, and start trying to do things right.
A lot of religion is based off this concept, but it isn't JUST a religious concept. It is a human concept and the path to freedom and success. Choose to stop screwing up. Learn from the mistakes. Make better choices. Theon still fails at things past this point, but he also knows that failure isn't his only option.This knowledge helps him to have the courage to work with the plan to save Jeyne and it's what drives him to not only leap from the walls of the castle to save them but also what keeps him pushing one foot in front of the other as he and Jeyne walk through snow to what they hope will be safety.
The scene is very well written. When I read it, I could feel the cold damp as it soaked into Theon's pants. I could hear the way the snow muffled all the other sounds around him, making it seem that only he and tree existed in that moment. I could feel his hot tears running down his face. I could hear the choke on his voice as he tried to verbalize any of what he was feeling. I could feel the sudden sense of being clean as he asked for forgiveness. I could feel him being changed as a character.
It was magical and I am truly happy to have read it. I'm happy it's in my bones.
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