GOT re read Sansa IV Tyrion XII
Sansa IV
The chapter starts and ends with references to fire. In the beginning the fires have been lit by Stannis and Tyrion and Sansa comments that even "the air tastes of ashes".
Sansa is meeting Ser Dontos in the Godswood and has to put up with his usual slobbery kisses (revolting!) and notices how his surcoat is covered in wine stains. She agrees that he is a poor Florian but "he is all I have".
Although later she wishes that he had some of the hounds fierceness, she never seems to see Sandor as an ally or a potential rescuer. I was surprised when she remarked "let him...I want it burnt" when Stannis burning the sept is mentioned. Later on in the chapter she says "there are gods... All the stories cant be lies". Is this an indicator that she is following the old gods more?
At the end of her meeting her conversation is reminiscent of I Claudius with references to it being better to be seen as stupid, therefore less of a threat.
Now onto the good stuff, she's on the roof and as if by magic who should appear? The Hound! Who is totally not stalking her! Whenever there's talk of a shadow moving or strong hands etc it always turns out to be our man.
During their meeting Sandor makes quite a few cruel jibes. First he asks if she wants to be a cripple like her brother and then talks about Neds legs dancing when he was beheaded. I may be shamelessly whitewashing him here but, they are both incredibly traumatic parts of her life that Sandor was present at. (By that I mean he was at Winterfell when Bran was injured.) Is it an incredibly ham fisted attempt at trying to get Sansa to open up, or just him being a wanker?
Conversely Sansa says some pretty horrible things to him and he doesn't seem to be offended, or is he putting on a brave face? Sansa mentions being afraid of him, but if she was that afraid would she challenge him the way she does? I don't blame him for being a bit put out that she didnt thank him after the riot, I still wonder why she didn't. Probably she knew that he'd get all defensive like he does here. I honestly cannot fathom why he put a sword to her throat or why she doesn't appear that concerned by it. Sandors use of the word "peeping" is quite interesting it's a very child like word for him to use. Also it seems a bit confusing that one moment he's moaning about her not looking at him, then moaning because she is.
The theme of fire is bookmarked at the end with Sansa burning her bedding. It must have been quite a blaze if her clothes were ruined, presumably by smoke damage.
I apologise in advance for my fixation on Sansa and Cercei when it's supposed to be a SanSan re read, but I do think it has a huge impact on Sansa's character. Cercei is an emotional screw up but I do believe that she is as kind to Sansa as she is emotionally able to be. Also she tries to offer Sansa practical help for the situation she's in. Almost like Cercei has written the handbook on "marrying a king you don't love?" and is trying to share the knowledge with Sansa. She even hints at Joffrey's paternity when she talks about him crying when Robert picked him up, unlike his bastards. Sansa and Cercei is another reunion I'd love to see, although I think it will end badly for one of them.
In Tyrion XII Cercei is very quick to assert that Sansa is her hostage not a Lannister hostage. Its also interesting that she doesn't want The Hound taken from Joffrey when Tyrion wants him to lead a sortie. I know it's speculation but I wonder if Cecei had got her way and he hadn't deserted, would the poison plot have succeeded?
Thanks for reading!