I think A Feast for Crows is a very sad book. In a lot of ways, it's probably the saddest of the books so far, mostly because it's about the consequences of things that have happened up to this point. AFfC has its very funny points, most of which have to do with Cersei and her craziness. A lot of what is sad about the book is witnessed by Jaime and Brienne, as they make their separate journeys back north.
Feast deals with a lot of the consequences of the war. The Riverlands are ripped apart. There is a lot of chaos, a lot of destruction. Many people are completely physically and emotionally devastated. For both Jaime and Brienne, who grew up on the 'glory and honor in battle' mythos, this is difficult to handle. The ravages of war are horrible and very few people have come away from this untouched, including people who used to have secured positions and now don't.
One of the most touching parts in Brienne's chapters is when she finds Pod. Pod has been serving as Tyrion's squire. At one point, he even saved his life. Pod's been in the background of Tyrion's chapters, a quiet and loyal young man. Tyrion felt a certain kinship to him and tried to educate him as much as he could. Of course, that didn't mean that Tyrion thought about him at all once he had to flee the kingdom.
When Brienne finds Pod, the boy cries and tells her how Tyrion left him. Even though he had served Tyrion well for a while now, in the end, he was just another servant to be disregarded when things got rough. Pod was devastated by this and Brienne felt a lot of sympathy for him. She knew what it was like to feel loyal to someone with more rank than you and be cast aside when they didn't have time for you anymore.
One of the reasons I find this scene to be so sad is because I had to face a kind of nasty truth when I read it. I'd forgotten about Pod. Like the high ranking POVs who dominate these books, I thought only about the consequences of what happened to Tyrion in terms of how it affected him and how it affected Sansa. Pod's place in it didn't mean anything to me, because I'd allowed myself for him not to mean much. He was just a background character who fetched wine and occasionally saved people from being killed. He didn't matter.
Pod does matter though. Podrick and all the other minor characters who populate these books have the same hopes, thoughts, and feelings as everyone else. Their deaths, their lives, their hopes, dreams, and fears matter. It was something I needed to be reminded of, and something, honestly, I shouldn't have HAD to be reminded of. It was interesting to see my own bias at play.
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