Bran - Chapter 1
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| Bran Stark portrayed by Isaac Hempstead |
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| the discovery of the dead Direwolf |
This chapter is told from the perspective of 7 year old Bran Stark. He’s one of the sons of Lord Eddard Stark of House Stark. Their sigil is that of a Direwolf and their estate is known as Winterfell.
It’s morning and Bran is traveling with his lord father and brothers to witness his first execution. We learn more about the Wildlings as mentioned in the prologue: According to Bran’s Old Nan, Wildlings are said to be ruthless savages who are described more as monsters than men. We discover that the man to be executed is Gared from the prologue. (his name is not mentioned but it is implied)
We are also introduced to the men of House Stark - Robb Stark, 14 years old is the eldest son. Jon Snow, also 14 years old is the bastard son, Rickon Stark, only mentioned, is the youngest son, Theon Greyjoy, Lord Stark’s ward is 19 years old .
Lord Eddard Stark is 35 years old. His sword is known as ‘Ice’, a specially crafted blade of Valyrian steel, a mystical high quality metal. Under his command is Jory Cassel, captain of his household guard, Hullen, the master of horse and his son, Harwin.
We learn that Gared was executed for deserting the Night’s Watch. Robb and Jon have a discussion if Gared died bravely. Robb believes he did but Jon believes he died afraid. Lord Stark talks to Bran about the execution and reveals that he was simply upholding the law as instructed by King Robert Baratheon, whom their family aids. Lord Stark teaches Bran about the Stark code of honor: death sentences must be dealt honorably and by the sentencer’s own hand. Bran is promised to be his brother Robb’s bannerman when Robb becomes Lord.
Later, Robb and Jon chance upon a dead Direwolf mother. Direwolves are a rarity in the world and everyone is shocked to find one. This Direwolf was killed by a Stag. They miraculously find a litter of puppies still alive on the dead beast. The grownups and Theon want to kill the puppies because Direwolves are wild beasts and are dangerous but Robb and Bran protest. Jon finds there are 5 pups, each one for the Stark kids, 3 male and 2 female. (It is revealed that Bran also has 2 sisters). We learn the meaning behind Jon Snow’s last name. ’Snow’ is a derogatory label given to bastards because they have no true name of their own. Lord Stark agrees to take in the Direwolf pups.
Just as they are leaving, Jon discovers 1 more pup. Its an albino and Jon claims it as his own.
Analysis
Themes and Topics
-Mercy or Death and the decision of it
-Decisions will lead to consequences - Gared dies for deserting, Something bad could happen after the kids adopt the Direwolf pups.
-Coming of Age - for Bran who man’s up by watching the execution
-Empathy or the lack of it - Jon’s response vs. Theon’s response to the dead man.
-Fear of the enemy and use of propaganda - I.e Wildlings are described like monsters
-Crime and Harsh Punishment - Gared deserts the Night’s Watch and has to die.
-Family relations and social conflict - father and son, the bastard and the other Starks, Greyjoy and Jon.
-Honor and the Stark Code of Honor
-History and Heritage
-Politics - an early mention. Lord Stark exacts the King’s law against Gared. His hand is forced. The Starks have to aid House Baratheon because its political.
-Power - the King is described as the most powerful man in the realm.
-Omens - the death of the Direwolf by stag antler and the finding of the pups
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| Lord Eddard Stark portrayed by Sean Bean |
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| Robb Stark portrayed by Richard Madden |
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| Jon Snow portrayed by Kit Harington |
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| Theon Greyjoy portrayed by Alfie Allen |
Allowing a 7 year old boy to see someone’s head get chopped off seems perfectly normal according to Stark custom. Death is not viewed as a taboo affair to them: it’s real, all around them and children are exposed to it very early.
The weather is quite pleasant in this chapter, a sharp contrast to the nasty cold in the prologue. A sign of happier times despite the execution and all.
Bran thinks the man to be executed is a Wildling because he had sworn allegiance to the King of the Wildlings, Mance Rayder, the King-beyond-the-Wall. Bran then recalls the stories his Old Nan told him about Wildlings. They’re described as monsters more than humans. “The wildlings were cruel men, she said, slavers and slayers and thieves. They consorted with with giants and ghouls, stole girl children in the dead of night, and drank blood from polished horns.”
The description of Wildlings sounds so ridiculous when you think of it as an older person because it makes them out to be like this absolute evil enemy. It sounds like propaganda and every Stark has been educated to hate them. What one doesn’t understand, one fears. The Starks obviously don’t run in with Wildlings very often so they conjure stories about them, which most likely aren’t true about them at all.
As we read on, telling from the description, we know this man to be executed: It’s Gared from the previous chapter! “He had lost both ears and a finger to frostbite, and he dressed all in black, the same as a brother of the Night’s Watch…” poor Gared got found deserting the Night’s Watch and now he’s about to be executed.
Bran describes his father, Lord Eddard Stark. We can tell he’s a loving father but also a stern Lord who means business. “He seemed not at all the man who would sit before the fire in the evening and talk softly of the age of heroes and the children of the forest. He had taken off Father’s face..and donned the face of Lord Stark of Winterfell.”
Lord Stark is painted as a cool father figure according to Bran, as how a son idealizes his father. He also describes Lord Stark’s personal blade, ‘Ice’. We learn it’s a pretty big and long blade. It is also forged in a special rare material, Valyrian steel. “The blade was Valyrian steel, spell-forged and dark as smoke. Nothing held an edge like Valyrian steel.” ‘Ice’ is like a kind of mystical awesome weapon and Bran is proud of this. Proud that his awesome dad has this weapon.
Before Lord Stark chops Gared’s head off, he announces the sentence. “In the name of Robert of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm…” Just by reading this, we can tell the King, King Robert of House Baratheon has TONS of power and sounds ridiculously important. He is tasked as King of the human ancestors, the ruler of 7 kingdoms and overall ‘protector of the realm’. He sounds like the most powerful man of the realm. And than Lord Stark sentences the man to die.
So we learn that Lord Stark is exacting the King’s law of death upon this guy who deserted the Night’s Watch. That’s a pretty severe punishment.
Jon Snow, Bran’s bastard brother gives a pointer to Bran to tell him to man up and watch the beheading because his lord father will be watching him. Bran listens and witnesses the gruesome deed. Watching the beheading is like a rite of passage for boys of the Stark family. It’s like after they witness it, they mature as boys and will only grow stronger. They’re made to confront death in the face and accept it as a part of life. Bran is able to do this and has thus passed the test but he is disturbed by it “Bran could not take his eyes off the blood. The snows around the stump drank it eagerly, reddening as he watched.”
And on the other hand, we have Theon Greyjoy, Lord Stark’s ward, who’s just an unfeeling dick. He laughs at the dead man’s head puts his boot on it and kicks it away. That man was just alive about a minute ago and he’s just mucking around and not feeling a twinge of empathy for the dead guy. Then again, he’s 19 and has seen a lot more death, but still. Pretty dick move.
Jon Snow, unlike Theon, has empathy. He scoffs at Theon’s action and calls him an ’Ass’. He also is an encouraging brother to Bran who praises him and tells Bran that he did well at the test. Jon, despite being a bastard, is actually quite nice to his half-brother and treats him like a real brother and Bran appreciates this.
Robb Stark, Bran’s older brother, discusses the execution with Jon Snow. Robb feels that Gared died bravely but Jon disagrees. “It was not courage. This one was dead of fear. You could see it in his eyes, Stark”. Robb perhaps isn’t that good at reading people’s facial expressions or body language unlike Jon who seems to be more attentive to these things. Either way, Robb treats his bastard brother Jon like a brother and good mate as they race each other to the bridge on their horses, as guys like a good bout of healthy competition.
Lord Stark then approaches Bran and asks how he is, and also questions him why he had to kill Gared. Bran questions his dad about Robb and Jon’s discussion “Robb says the man died bravely, but Jon says he was afraid.. Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?” Lord Stark tells his son something very profound “That is the only time a man can be brave.” When a man is about to die and he’s afraid, that is the only time he can be brave. We can also tell that Bran is a pretty smart kid for a 7 year old. He questions things and not just accepts things as they are, he can analyze.
Lord Stark asks Bran if he understands why he had to kill Gared, Bran isn’t sure but he takes a stab and says “King Robert has a headsman”. which Lord Stark admits is correct. Lord Stark killed Gared because he was following the law that King Robert had exacted because House Stark supports the King. But Lord Stark goes on to explain the deeper meaning behind the execution. “Yet our way is the older way. The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentences should swing the sword. If you would take a man’s life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die.” This is the Stark code of honor. If you sentence a man to die, you do it nobly and by your own hand.
Lord Stark goes on to explain that when Robb becomes king, Bran will be his banner man and when it becomes his turn to exact justice upon others, he must “take no pleasure in the task, but neither must he look away. A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is.” A rather idealistic statement to some extent.
Robb and Jon than discover a dead Direwolf. It’s a giant monstrous creature. “It was bigger than Bran’s pony, twice the size of the largest hound in his father’s kennel.” It’s also an incredibly rare animal. “There’s not been a dire wolf sighted south of the Wall in 200 years.” says Theon. Robb and Jon find Direwolf puppies on the dead creature.
Lord Stark finds out how the animal died: it was killed by a Stag. This somehow causes unease to the rest of the men. “The men looked at the antler uneasily, and no one dared to speak. Even Bran could sense their fear, though he did not understand.” Ok this is kind of a foreshadowing thing and we will only understand the meaning of this omen in later chapters. Note that the Stark house sigil is that of a Direwolf.
Lord Stark has to decide what to do with the pups. Robb and Bran want to keep them but Theon and the men want to kill them because they know the Direwolf is a dangerous beast. Robb is stubborn and does have a hint of leadership in him when he tells Greyjoy off and declares he will keep the pups. “For a moment he sounded as commanding as their father, like a lord he would someday be.” according to Bran.
Jon Snow saves the situation by saying there are 5 pups in all. Each one for the Stark kids. 3 boys and 2 girls. He nobly gives up a pup because he knows his place: He’s not a Stark, he’s the bastard child. Jon is really a very nice guy who is selfless. No one likes the bastard child because he’s an illegitimate one. He doesn’t even deserve a proper last name, in his case, bastard children of the North are called ’Snow’.
And so Lord Stark agrees to let the Stark kids keep the Direwolf pups. He chooses mercy over death, in a kind of metaphorical way, but he also knows, he might have made a grave mistake allowing his kids such dangerous beasts. “These are not dogs to beg for treats and slink off at a kick. A Direwolf will rip a man’s arm off his shoulder as easily as a dog will kill a rat.” as he tells Robb and Bran.
Just as they are riding back to Winterfell, Jon thinks he hears something. (Once again, we can tell Jon is very sensory attentive. He’s good at reading people, feels empathy and is very attuned to his senses) he goes back to the dead Direwolf and finds 1 last pup that had wandered away from the others. It’s an albino and he claims it for his own.
The Direwolf pups are an obvious extension of the Stark kids including the albino one which represents the bastard Jon Snow. Like the pups, the Stark kids are young and naïve to the cruel harsh world out there and in later chapters, we will see the kids and their wolves grow up together with them as extensions of their personalities.
Chapter Impressions
There’s a lot going on in this first chapter. We see death through the eyes of 7 year old Bran who’s forced to grow up fast.
We’re introduced to the main Stark men and they’re all very interesting characters.
Jon Snow, is a real nice guy despite the fact he’s a bastard. He looks out for Bran, cares for him like a real brother, is selfless, sensitive to others and knows his place in the family.
Bran is a smart kid and questions things but because he’s young, he still wants to believe Old Nan’s tales of creepy evil Wildlings, just because perhaps he likes a good horror story once in a while. Bran admires his father very much and thinks he’s the coolest dad ever.
Lord Stark is a good father and a stern Lord but also a rather idealistic man. He expects others to be honorable and uphold their code. He’s also a merciful man in a way that he accepts Jon Snow into his family despite his bastard status and also has a ward, Theon Greyjoy, unexplained as of yet how he came to the family. Lord Stark also let's his kids keep the Direwolf pups instead of killing them, showing his mercy, even though he knows it could be a dangerous decision.
Theon is kind of a dick. A mischievous boisterous figure who isn’t empathic and isn’t very nice to Jon, but he’s practical man in a sense he knows the Direwolf is a dangerous creature and shouldn’t be reckoned with. He, like the other men, suggest they kill the wolf pups than let them live. Well there’s probably a hidden meaning to that because Theon is not a Stark.
Despite the dread of death from the execution and the rather suspicious ominous message about the dead Direwolf and the pups, it’s a brilliant introductory chapter that is power packed with information. We are told the king is the most powerful man in the realm, the Starks are forced to exact his law even if they don’t want to, the Stark code of honor is kind of a sacred vow, the hint of succession that Bran is to be Robb’s right hand man when he’s king one day. All that stuff is pretty solid information, especially witnessing this through the eyes of a 7 year old boy.
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