14 AGOT Tyrion II: Misinformed
- Jan 15, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: Jan 14
Tyrion tells Jon the Wall is a penal colony and not the noble calling he's been told it is. When Jon is furious, Tyrion teaches him to feel his anger by imagining his enemies burning. That night, he sees Jon staring into the fire.
Where Maps Fail
Tyrion's reading informs him but, like looking at maps, there are ways to misinform oneself with knowledge. The kingsroad on the map looks no different north of Winterfell, but it narrows, the terrain becomes mountainous. Travel time would be easy to miscalculate. An even better example is Tyrion's southron misunderstanding of what the Wall is for. He tells Jon it's nothing but a prison: a catchall for undesireables. That's all it's used as in the south.
Jon is apalled by Yoren and charges. Tyrion thinks Jon must have assumed everyone at the Wall was like Benjen.
The Field of Fire
Tyrion might not have been born had his ancestor not survived. So much ripe wheat was burned killing so many men.
Scenes
1: The Kingsroad North
2: Camp
Mnemonic Titles
2019: Where Maps Fail: The phrasing, especially at chapter open, suggests a metaphor where the map made a journey seem much easier before departure.
2026: Misinformed. The map misinformed Tyrion about the kingsroad. Tyrion is also misinformed about the Night's Watch and misinforms Jon, who then sees his situation in false terms. Jon feels rejected and unloved, now discarded.