Episode 18: A GAME OF THRONES, CATELYN IV: "The Cat, The Mockingbird, the Spider" (Show Notes!)

Hello and welcome to the Not A Cast, the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week. I’m one of your hosts Jeff better known as BryndenBFish. 

And I’m your other host Emmett, better known as PoorQuentyn. 

Welcome to our eighteenth episode of the Not A Cast entitled: “The Cat, The Mockingbird, the Spider”: An Analysis of AGOT, Catelyn IV,” in which Catelyn Stark shows up in King’s Landing and immediately wanders into the conspiracies of Littlefinger and Varys. This episode is brought to you all by our Lords Commander Mark N, Timothy W and Hayden J. Thank you, gentlemen!

Spoiler warning: All published books - 5 novels, 3 Dunk and Egg novellas, histories, interviews, and TWOW sample chapters, as well as Game of Thrones the TV show, anything and everything!

Patreon Reminder: “Why is TWOW Taking so Goddamn Long?” is available for our $5/month or more patrons. And today, we’re pleased to announce our next patreon-only episode entitled “A Burning Crown: The Endgame of Stannis Baratheon” which will be coming your way on June 28th for our $5/month patrons and a few days early for our $30 and $20 patrons! So, if that entices some of you to come join our patreon, we’d love to have you along for the ride. There’s lot of other benefits to our patreon beyond exclusive episodes like early access to episodes, show notes, personalized thank yous from Emmett and me and a few forthcoming benefits too

Emmett talk

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Questions

Ser Darren of Detroit asks:

Recent sworn sword here. Was holding out on becoming a patron but I couldn’t resist TWoW episode discussion. My question is: do you think you guys will do a Dayne episode? There seems like there is so much mystery around this one house, what with Ashara (Is she Lemore? Did she actually throw herself from a tower? Was Ned in Love with her?), Edric, Beric, Ole’ Gerry (Whats his role in TWOW/ADOS?), and Arthur to say the least. This is an ancient house that has done little throughout ASOIAF... Or has it? Also: where the heck is Dawn?

Love your show,

Ser Darren of Detroit

Old Sadie asks:

I'm going to the Game of Thrones Live concert this week, and I was wondering if there were any parts of the show's soundtrack that you really enjoy, and why?

Summary/Synopsis

Lady Catelyn Stark and Ser Rodrik Cassel near King’s Landing aboard the ship The Storm Dancer. They’ve been brought south by a Tyroshi ship captain by the name of Moreo, and it’s been a difficult journey south from White Harbor -- especially for Ser Rodrik who’d been seasick throughout the entire journey. You see, Rodrik grew so seasick that he fouled his famous great white side whiskers. So, the old knight shaved them off. Very sad.

Catelyn promises Captain Moreo that each oarmen of the crew will have a silver from her, and then Catelyn and Rodrik discuss the plan when the captain departs. They are to go to the Red Keep Master of Arms Ser Aron Santagar to show him the blade that nearly ended Bran’s life and ask Ser Aron about the knife’s origins. However, there are dangers. There are certain individuals who know who Catelyn Stark is. Chief among them is Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish. You see, Baelish was a ward of Riverrun and had even been given the moniker of “Littlefinger” by Catelyn’s brother Edmure. Unfortunately for the boy, he’d grown fond of Catelyn -- so fond that he dueled Brandon Stark for Cat’s hand in marriage in their youths. Brandon gravely wounded Baelish giving him a scar, and it was only because Catelyn begged for Littlefinger’s life that the boy still lives. And now Littlefinger sits the small council as master of coin.

I knew he would rise high. He was always clever, even as a boy, but it is one thing to be clever and another to be wise. I wonder what the years have done to him, Catelyn wonders.

King’s Landing then comes into view and Cat reflects on the history of the city: how it was only forests and fisherfolks here before Aegon the Conqueror sailed from Dragonstone. Nearly 300 years later, the city is immense with manses, arbors, granaries, brick storehouses, timbered inns, merchant’s stalls, taverns, graveyards and brothels -- all piled atop each other to Catelyn’s eye. Between all those buildings broad roads, crookback streets and narrow alleys crisscross across the city. Above them, the Great Sept of Baelor: the headquarters of the Faith of the Seven and the ruins of the dragonpit: a reminder of when dragons and the dragons ruled Westeros. And above even both of those structures: the Red Keep atop Aegon’s high hill.

They sail into the harbor, and Rodrik announces to Catelyn that he has a plan: without his whiskers, he can travel through King’s Landing incognito and meet with Aron Santagar in secrecy while Catelyn stays safe back at the inn. Just then, Captain Moreo appears, offering assistance in recommending inns and carrying their chests to whatever establishment they chose. And about the payment that Catelyn offered? Would it be alright if Moreo held onto the silver for his crewmen? They’d only spend it on sex workers and booze if Cat gave it directly to them. Uh, no, nice try, Moreo. Catelyn will pay each man herself.

The pair head on up to one of the inns that Moreo suggests. Rodrik heads out for Santagar while Catelyn gets some well-needed rest. She passes out only to wake up to a hammering at the door. Goldcloaks, demanding entry in the name of the king. Cat lets the men in. She asks under whose authority they are barging in on her, and they show her a mockingbird sigil. Littlefinger. How the hell did Littlefinger know she was there? Moreo. He knew who they were and where they were going, and there was that little matter of not giving him all the silver to steal, er, distribute to his crew

Anyways, Catelyn asks the guards if they know who she is. They don’t. They just had instructions to bring some noble lady to Littlefinger. So, they all depart the inn for the Red Keep. They enter the castle at nightfall. She’s escorted through a narrow door, up the steps of a tower and finally she’s in front of Lord Littlefinger. “Cat,” he says

Why have I been brought here in this fashion? She replies

A valid question, and one that Littlefinger sidesteps, asking after her treatment by his guards and her hands. Catelyn again chastises Littlefinger for her being brought to him “in this fashion.” Littlefinger again sidesteps, looking contrite, stating that it was never his intent to anger Catelyn. This was a routine Catelyn was familiar with from her time as a girl growing up at Riverrun. So, she’s unsure whether he’s truly contrite or not (Spoilers: he’s not).

Cat asks how Littlefinger knew she was in the city. Varys knows all, Baelish responds. Nothing happens without Varys know about it, sometimes even before it happens. He has informants everywhere. Little birds. But while Varys knew about Catelyn’s visit, he doesn’t know one thing: why she’s here.

A wife is allowed to yearn for her husband, and if a mother needs her daughters close, who can tell her no?”

Littlefinger laughs and doesn’t believe her, asking Catelyn to recite the Tully words. Family, Duty, Honor, she says dryly. Yes indeed, and that would compel you come to King’s Landing and in hurry, wouldn’t it, Catelyn? 

Anyways, this is all interrupted when Lord Varys arrives smelling of lilacs and issuing effusive flatteries to Catelyn. He offers to send for a salve for her hands and to purchase healers in the Free Cities for Bran. Catelyn declines both. Varys then claims that he esteems Ned and loves Robert. Littlefinger jokes that no one is so beloved as Robert at least in Lord Varys’ hearing. 

After all of these flatteries, everyone gets down to business. Varys asks Catelyn to see the dagger. Catelyn is amazed that Varys knows about the dagger. She asks what became of Ser Rodrik, Littlefinger doesn’t know anything about Rodrik, Varys reports that Rodrik met with Aron Santagar, where they spoke of the dagger. Again, Catelyn is amazed at Varys’ knowledge, calling him a “wizard.” And then she produces the dagger for Varys’ examination.

Varys lifts the dagger, examines it, runs his thumb across the blade, cutting himself in the process. Littlefinger then takes the dagger and begins flipping it with his hands and guesses at Catelyn’s purpose in coming here: You want to find the owner, that is the reason for this visit? 

And if Catelyn had? I would have told you that there was only one knife like this as King’s Landing. It’s mine, Littlefinger says throwing the dagger against the wooden door.

Yours? Catelyn asks remembering that Littlefinger wasn’t at Winterfell. Yes, it was Littlefinger’s dagger until he lost it on Prince Joffrey’s name day tourney. There, he bet his dagger on Jaime Lannister, but when Loras Tyrell unhorsed Jaime in the tilt, he lost the dagger to the man who bet against him.

“Who?” Catelyn demanded her mouth dry with fear. Her fingers ached with remembered pain.

“The Imp,” said Littlefinger as Lord Varys watched her face. “Tyrion Lannister.”

Depth/Structure

If Bran III was our deepest dive yet into the magical side of ASOIAF, Catelyn IV plays the equivalent role in the political world. It’s not only our first chapter in King’s Landing, but our introduction to the two characters who arguably embody the capital’s politics more than anyone else: Littlefinger and Varys, the masters of coins and whispers, respectively. Plotwise, as we’ll get into, this is where the dominoes start falling faster and faster toward the War of Five Kings, but what really makes this chapter great for me is how it introduces us to the city.

I love that the first chapter set in King’s Landing isn’t Eddard IV: arriving through the front door, attending our first of many small council meetings, exploring the public face of power. Nothing against that chapter, and Ned stumbles into intrigue by its end, but Catelyn IV is a much more appropriate introduction. She arrives in secret, immediately gets found out, is marched through the back door, and has to delicately dance her way through a conversation in which everyone is playing a separate game. Things move so quickly once Littlefinger sends for Catelyn that we’re constantly playing catch-up. At chapter’s end the first time through, it’s impossible to know who or what to believe. 

And that is the best manner possible by which to get to know King’s Landing, because that’s what it’s like here. GRRM is not just introducing the capital, he’s introducing the tone and themes he’s going to be exploring here throughout the series. He wants to let you know right away how King’s Landing feels, and what it feels like is the ground shifting under your feet, the vipers waiting below. This is where Aegon landed. Where will you land?

• Cash Rules Everything Around Me
  • The chapter opens with the question of Captain Moreo and the silver stags for his men, perfectly setting the themes of influence and (dis)trust
  • Catelyn senses that he’ll keep the money for himself and later assumes he sold her out; this is a warning about Littlefinger she does not grasp
  • He, too, keeps an iron fist around his men--or rather, a golden one, as we get an early clue he controls the City Watch (gold cloaks, like coins…)
  • Palm-greasing is mediated by both information and persuasion, as we see with Moreo trying to wheedle the money out of her and the importance of an innkeep that just wants the money and will keep silent
  • Littlefinger’s financial scheming is reflected on his physical form:
    • He had a little pointed chin beard now, and threads of silver in

his dark hair, though he was still shy of thirty. They went well with the silver mockingbird that fastened his cloak. Even as a child, he had always loved his silver.

• Those are his colors, right from the start: gold and silver. 
• And the reveal at chapter’s end revolves around what else but a gamble?
• Littlefinger and Varys: a poker metaphor
  • Defining who Littlefinger is: a metaphor
    • Cite Steven Attewell’s “Jazz Soloist” metaphor
  • Littlefinger as a loose-aggressive poker player: The Maniac
    • LAG players play a wide range of hands, regardless of the quality of their hands, no matter the strength of their hand
    • This unbalanced play style keeps opponents guessing how good of a hand the LAG player has
    • Cite own experience trying to play LAG and how I lost a fair amount early on
  • How Littlefinger’s LAG style netted him losses early on: losing Catelyn, dueling Brandon and getting KO’d and nearly killed
  • How he improved his game by tightening it at some but is utilizing a lot of improvisation here (something Emmett will get into shortly)
  • Varys: The Tight-Aggressive/Rock poker player
    • Attewell: Concert pianist
    • TAG players play a narrower range of cards -- generally strong hands that can be used to exploit maximum value
    • As a TAG, Varys’ long-term plan is to wait for a good hand before playing, i.e. wait for the right moment to start setting the conditions for Aegon and the Golden Company to make their grand entrance to Westeros to “bind up the wounds of bleeding Westeros” in Illyrio’s parlance.
    • Drawbacks: Littlefinger: “The gods alone know the game Littlefinger is playing.”
• Littlefinger’s Game
  • It’s important to keep in mind as we go what Littlefinger has already done and what he’s planning at that moment to do, as far as we can tell anyway
  • At this point: he had Lysa kill Jon Arryn and frame the Lannisters, so he’s clearly trying to sow division between the Lannisters and the Starks/Tullys
  • We don’t know if it was his plan that Robert would then name Ned his new Hand, but it probably was, because he and Stannis hate each other
  • He antagonizes Ned and relishes betraying him, so it’s not tenable that he only betrayed Ned because of the latter’s stubbornness RE Joff v. Stannis
  • As such, I think it’s fair to say that by the time we meet Petyr Baelish, he’s already actively working towards the goal of bringing down a man who has never done him any wrong, simply because that man married Catelyn
  • Sansa is not part of his game at this point, Harrenhal might not be in mind as his stepping stone to the Eyrie (Tyrion seems to put that thought into his head in ACOK), but his general plans for Houses Arryn, Tully, and Stark are in place before Catelyn arrives in King’s Landing
  • And that’s the one thing he never expected: for Cat to walk in on it all. So we meet the master manipulator in a moment of discombobulation:
    • Littlefinger was lost. "I feel rather like the knight who arrives at the battle without his lance. What dagger are we talking about? Who is Ser Rodrik?" 
  • What does he do? He improvises to keep that animosity going:
    • "Yours?" It made no sense. Petyr had not been at Winterfell.
      
      "Until the tourney on Prince Joffrey's name day," he said, crossing the room to wrench the dagger from the wood. "I backed Ser Jaime in the jousting, along with half the court." Petyr's sheepish grin made him look half a boy again. "When Loras Tyrell unhorsed him, many of us became a trifle poorer. Ser Jaime lost a hundred golden dragons, the queen lost an emerald pendant, and I lost my knife. Her Grace got the emerald back, but the winner kept the rest."
  • So while Catelyn is responsible for snatching Tyrion and Jaime is responsible for attacking Ned’s men and Tywin is responsible for unleashing hell on the Riverlands, Littlefinger makes a move with the intent of bringing something like that about, though he can’t know how
  • The overall portrait of Lord Baelish confirms Catelyn’s fears:
    • "He was always clever, even as a boy, but it is one thing to be clever and another to be wise.”
  • Littlefinger is clever, but unwise. At chapter’s end, he:
    • Frames Tyrion, which puts him in danger from Tyrion later
    • Foments Stark/Lannister war, which puts him in danger from Tywin
      • He pointed a finger at Tyrion's face. "If Cersei cannot curb the boy, you must. And if these councillors are playing us false…"
        
        Tyrion knew. "Spikes," he sighed. "Heads. Walls."
    • Lies unnecessarily--say Robert won it, she’ll assume it was Cersei
    • Assumes Varys will not rat him out, immediately or later on
    • Does all this directly instead of through a proxy he can disavow
  • That he survives all this doesn’t justify the risk, because GRRM’s thumb is very visibly on the scales to make sure that neither the Starks nor the Lannisters (besides Tyrion) realize what Littlefinger did here
  • So while he’s an extremely adept plate-spinner, you can already see the weaknesses that will bring the mockingbird low
  • Check out Radio Westeros’ two-part series on Littlefinger. Episodes 23 + 24.
    
    
• Varys’ Game
  • This is more Littlefinger’s introduction chapter, given Catelyn’s monologue to Ser Rodrik; Varys doesn’t really reveal himself until Eddard VII
  • He’s framed as the center of a web, rumored as mystical whereas Petyr is mired in the comparatively mundane business of counting coppers:
    • Catelyn Stark stared at the eunuch in stunned disbelief. He was a spider, she thought wildly, an enchanter or worse. 
  • But that’s merely his rep; what he actually does in this chapter is prove how skillfully and subtly he can work in the background
  • Unlike Littlefinger, he’s not here to advance his own plot, but to observe
  • He arranges this meeting to see not only what Catelyn will say, but also how Littlefinger will react, and how she will respond to his reaction:
    • "Who?" Catelyn demanded, her mouth dry with fear. Her fingers ached with remembered pain.
      
      "The Imp," said Littlefinger as Lord Varys watched her face. "Tyrion Lannister."
    • The biggest question on Varys is why he lets Littlefinger get away with a huge lie, knowing that the outcome will be to put Westeros on a near-certain warfooting.
  • Big picture: Varys and Illyrio have arranged the Drogo-Daenerys marriage
  • It’s difficult to tell exactly what their plans are for Viserys at this stage
  • They’ve got Young Griff and the Golden Company in their back pocket
  • Varys was presumably preparing to exploit a Lannister-Baratheon war
  • The death of Jon Arryn and Ned’s rise to Hand were unwelcome surprises
  • As such, Varys doesn’t know yet how to handle the Starks and Tullys:
    • Varys spread his hands. "I will make another confession, Lord Eddard. I was curious to see what you would do. Why not come to me? you ask, and I must answer, Why, because I did not trust you, my lord."
  • As with Tyrion, Varys makes the newcomer subtly aware of his influence before testing them to see if he can work with them
  • Ultimately, I find that more impressive than Littlefinger sticking his neck in the noose and trusting he’ll be able to pull it out in time

Likes/Dislikes

Like: This chapter is a workhorse that accomplishes three things: the first is that it introduces us to perhaps the most pivotal set piece in all of ASOIAF: KL and does it well (But I’ll let Emmett talk that). Secondly, it introduces us to a wider political conspiracy at work. And then finally, it introduces us to two pivotal characters: Littlefinger and Varys -- who plays roles of increasing prominence and plot-importance in ASOIAF. And he introduces all of these elements with aplomb as you can tell from Emmett’s breakdown of Littlefinger/Varys and their conspiracies.

Dislike: Catelyn’s extended monologue to Ser Rodrik about her past relationship with Littlefinger reads strangely. She explains the whole background in dialogue with Ser Rodrik in significant depth. It’s not that I mind the infodump, but imagining the scene doesn’t work. This is a private history that Cat is sharing with Rodrik, and it is awkward -- even if Catelyn was “beyond delicacy” as she thinks before launching into the monologue. What would have worked better is having Rodrik trail his words off as “Lord Baelish once, ah …”  and then Catelyn going into internal monologue of the shared past before Rodrik picks up again with Ser Rodrik's fingers fumbled once again for nonexistent whiskers. "Littlefinger sits on the small council now."

Like: GRRM makes sure our first glimpse of the Red Keep, the setting of so many of ASOIAF’s most memorable moments, is unforgettable: 

And above it all, frowning down from Aegon’s high hill, was the Red Keep; seven huge drum-towers crowned with iron ramparts, an immense grim barbican, vaulted halls and covered bridges, barracks and dungeons and granaries, massive curtain walls studded with archers’ nests, all fashioned of pale red stone. Aegon the Conqueror had commanded it built. His son Maegor the Cruel had seen it completed. Afterward he had taken the heads of every stonemason, woodworker, and builder who had labored on it. Only the blood of the dragon would ever know the secrets of the fortress the Dragonlords had built, he vowed.

The castle is unambiguously framed as a monster, hulking and grimacing above the city, grown fat and red on its builders’ blood like a tick. It’s like the classic dragon in a cave menacing the village below…and of course, the first atrocities committed therein were in the name of the blood of the dragon. If Winterfell is Bran, then the Red Keep is Maegor, is Aegon IV, is Aerys II. 

Dislike: It’s a liiiiiiiitle too convenient that Littlefinger just happens to name the Lannister that Catelyn is about to run into and that Varys just happens to decide to stay mum about the lie (given that Illyrio later frets that the war is happening too soon for their purposes). I get that Littlefinger’s reckless, and I think that’s deliberate on GRRM’s part to undercut his chessmaster vibe, but as mentioned, the author’s thumb is too visible on the scale here. 

Foreshadowing/Groundwork

Ser Rodrik’s fingers fumbled once again for nonexistent whiskers. 

Could easily be coincidence, but this puts me in mind of Davos reaching for his luck after it’s lost

When they reached the Red Keep, the portcullis was down and the great gates sealed for the night, but the castle windows were alive with flickering lights.

Is this related to Dany’s vision of every door in the castle as red?

Varys lifted the knife with exaggerated delicacy and ran a thumb along its edge. Blood welled, and he let out a squeal and dropped the dagger back on the table.

“Careful,” Catelyn told him, “it’s sharp.”

“Nothing holds an edge like Valyrian steel,” Littlefinger said as Varys sucked at his bleeding thumb and looked at Catelyn with sullen admonition.

Could this foreshadow Varys’ manipulation of Targaryens--playing with Valyrian steel, if you will--backfiring on him? He hates the sight of his own blood…

“I backed Ser Jaime in the jousting, along with half the court.” Petyr’s sheepish grin made him look half a boy again. “When Loras Tyrell unhorsed him, many of us became a trifle poorer.”

I had forgotten Loras unhorsed Jaime to the astonishment of the crowd--that adds a whole ‘nother layer to their conversations in ASOS and AFFC.

Only the blood of the dragon would ever know the secrets of the fortress the Dragonlords had built, he vowed.

You know who knows the secrets of the Red Keep fortress? Varys, goddammit. Varys! He knows the tunnels, the crooks in the rock that open secret passages. Hell, he even knows how many rungs it is to get to Tywin’s room in the Tower of the Hand in ASOS. Is this early hinting that maybe Varys is a Targaryen? (yes)

Theory Discussion

Bad theory: Varys and Littlefinger are working together: not the most common of theories but one that pops up from time to time. Some people see evidence that Varys and Littlefinger are in cahoots from this chapter given that Varys doesn’t expose Littlefinger’s lie to Catelyn and instead observes Catelyn. 

But no, they’re f’n not in cahoots.

From Littlefinger’s POV:

Littlefinger smiled. "Leave Lord Varys to me, sweet lady. If you will permit me a small obscenity - and where better for it than here - I hold the man's balls in the palm of my hand." He cupped his fingers, smiling. "Or would, if he were a man, or had any balls. You see, if the pie is opened, the birds begin to sing, and Varys would not like that. Were I you, I would worry more about the Lannisters and less about the eunuch." (AGOT, Eddard IV)

From Varys’ POV when Arya overhears him talking with Illyrio in what he thinks is secrecy:

"Littlefinger... the gods only know what game Littlefinger is playing. Yet Lord Stark's the one who troubles my sleep. He has the bastard, he has the book, and soon enough he'll have the truth. And now his wife has abducted Tyrion Lannister, thanks to Littlefinger's meddling." (AGOT, Arya III)

From Ned and Varys’ conversation at the end of AGOT where Varys is speaking with dead man Ned and has no fear of reprisal

"Is this your own scheme," [Ned] gasped out at Varys, "or are you in league with Littlefinger?"

That seemed to amuse the eunuch. "I would sooner wed the Black Goat of Qohor. Littlefinger is the second most devious man in the Seven Kingdoms. Oh, I feed him choice whispers, sufficient so that he thinks I am his... just as I allow Cersei to believe I am hers." (AGOT, Eddard XV)

And finally, from George RR Martin himself in a 2016 Q/A session:

Questioner: How would you describe Varys' and Littlefinger's relationship?

GRRM: Adversarial! Both of them know a lot about the other one, including some very damaging things. So, they're in, essentially, a stalemate, because each one knows that if he revealed what he knows about the other one, then the other one would reciprocate and they would both be destroyed. So, they're locked in a certain stalemate. I think Littlefinger has a better idea of what Varys wants than Varys has an idea of what Littlefinger wants. Littlefinger is an agent of chaos who likes to be unpredictable and succeeds in that. - Guadalajara Book Festival Q/A, 12/2016

Conclusion

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