Errant Hero

The errant hero mistakes himself for a loving savior. He uses the idea of serving others to act out unresolved issues, seeking absolution. Childhood rejection inspires this character to seek self-absolution and acceptance into a loving, protective group. Tyrion, The Hound, Theon, Davos, Jorah, Daenerys

1 AGOT Prologue: Waymar Royce is the younger son of a noble house and has something to prove. When he says he won't return a failure from his first ranging, it means he's placing a lot of pressure to perform on himself. He thinks he serves the Watch bravely by bullying his charges and playing out a fantasy of being a ranger rather than ranging.

2 AGOT Bran I: Loving savior Jon guides Bran at the beheading, then contrives for the direwolf pups to be brought home.

4 AGOT Daenerys I: Viserys aims to reclaim Westeros out of wounded pride and a misguided sense of entitlement, not to defend the people.

6 AGOT Jon I: Loving hero Benjen refuses Jon's drunken request to join the Night's Watch, advising him to wait until he's seen more of what life has to offer. Benjen would see Jon spared a hard life.

15 AGOT Catelyn III: Catelyn's motive for attending to Bran to the exclusion of all else is her guilt, explained in 11 AGOT Jon II, not love of Bran. Her original wish was that Bran stay with her, using him as an emotional crutch, not providing attentive care to him as a mother.

16 AGOT Sansa I: Joffrey pretends to rescue Arya from Mycah so he can relive his trouncing by Robb's wooden sword with a different outcome.

25 AGOT Bran IV: Tyrion brings Bran his saddle design because Tyrion offered to carry a message to Winterfell for Jon or do him some similar favor and Jon asked Tyrion to do something for Bran.

31 AGOT Eddard VII: The Hound defends Loras to counter the Mountain, his nemesis. He'd told Sansa he worried he'd have to kill Gregor. It seems he'd expected his brother to be such a sore loser that, if bested in the lists, as happens with Loras, he'd attack. While appearing to come to Loras's rescue, the Hound actually addresses his childhood issues.

32 AGOT Tyrion IV: Tyrion defends Catelyn, his accuser, from the mountain clan attack. His motive seems to be as loving savior: protecting her because it is the right thing to do.

42 AGOT Jon V: Loving savior Jon speaks to Aemon on Sam's behalf to spare him Thorne's bullying without the protection of those graduating.

44 AGOT Eddard XI: Ned means to make an unbiased ruling. He makes sure to send neutral men. But his warrant for the Mountain's head is motivated by his frustratted intention to bring Jaime to justice. Ned tells the villagers of Sherer he can't help them except to kill the men who burned them. That isn't heroic, only vengeful.

46 AGOT Eddard XII: Loving savior Ned tells Cersei his intentions, to spare her children.

56 AGOT Catelyn VIII: Catelyn believes she means to aid Robb, but all she does is assault him with her fears and undermine his confidence.

58 AGOT Sansa V: Sansa means to plead mercy for her father to save him, out of her love for him. But she has a clear ulterior motive: to test if Joffrey's love for her means she can sway him. If so, the world is her oyster.

62 AGOT Daenerys VII: Dany thinks she's saved Eroeh and other slaves she's claimed, but her deeper motivation than to save them relates to her childhood abuse by Viserys. Dany's attempts to save others are more deeply attempts to resolve her own abuse.

65 AGOT Daenerys VIII: Dany believes she must save Drogo's life with bloodmagic, but she means to save herself.

71 AGOT Jon IX: Jon thinks he honors Ned by riding to avenge him, but he only dishonors himself. Jon's ulterior motive is to address his feelings of dejected homelessness. Jon feels he has no rights or place in the world. But Mormont keeps arguing otherwise. Mormont sees Jon as a Stark and values him above other men because of his first men's blood.

74 ACOK 1 Prologue: Maester Cressen's attempt to poison Melisandre is heroic and he intends to save Stannis. He woud not see Stannis turn against Renly.

Stannis is also an errant hero. He doesn't so much see his cause as rightful as know Renly's to be wrongful. Still grinding his teeth over Storm's End, Stannis would go to war so as not to be further wronged and insulted.

76 ACOK 3 Sansa I: The Hound is a true knight throughout the chapter, defending any under attack.

79 ACOK 6 Arya II: Yoren defends Gendry's freedom and the law that protects him for the Wall on principle. Gendry backs Arya, looking out for her. His abetting against Biter foreshadows his killing Biter in 263 Brienne VII.

81 ACOK 8 Catelyn I: Catelyn thinks she manipulates Robb toward wise decision making, but can't really keep from seeing that she can't handle his elevation above her in rank.

82 ACOK 9 Tyrion II: Tyrion means to effect real change as Hand, but soon realizes he is not a better person that those he'd judge. He's surrounded himself with who was available to him--Bronn and Shae--and is unconsciously motivated by issues with his father and sister.

84 ACOK 11 Davos I: Stannis thinks his campaign for king is perfunctory, but it's really related to unresolved grief for his parnts. He named the hawk he nursed back to health Proudwing, perhaps without realizing she represented the ship, Windproud, he watched go down. Stannis is only being self-serving in making his bid for the throne. It's not because it's his duty because he's rightful. Stannis wants what's his by rights to make up for all the ways he's been shafted. Storm's End, Robert naming Ned Hand...

88 ACOK 15 Arya IV: Arya gets the axe to free the men trapped in the wagon because she feels pity for even the horses and can't do anything more.

92 ACOK 19 Sansa II: Ser Dontos, saved by Sansa's suggestion he be made into a fool now claims he wants to help her get home. She saved him from himself as well as from Joffrey, since he'd been more of a fool as a knight. He even says he feels ashamed he did not speak up for Ned when Sansa spoke up for him. Dontos at least pretends to be motivated by the desire for absolution. However, Dontos is not being wholly honest with Sansa, since he's also being paid.

93 ACOK 20 Arya V: Arya buries Yoren and gets Hot Pie to help free Gendry because it's the only thing to do.

96 ACOK 23 Catelyn II: Brienne thinks she wants to give her life for Renly, but her deeper motive is to die an honorable death. Suicide by enlistment. She'd rather die than have to face another suitor. Or than live in defiance of her duty as a daughter to wed and birth heirs.

97 ACOK 24 Jon III: Sam would help Gilly. "She was afraid. I know what it is like to be afraid." 373 His motive is to help her escape her father as a way to address his own childhood issues.

106 ACOK 33 Sansa III: Tyrion makes a sincere efort to protect Sansa because it is the right thing to do.

107 ACOK 34 Catelyn IV: Ser Robar Royce asks questions and listens to Catelyn's testimony, a true knight because a careful judge.

113 ACOK 40 Catelyn V: Martyn Rivers, made commander of the outriders in the Blackfish's absence, waits for Catelyn to provide an escort back to Riverrun. Though he says Edmure charged him to keep an eye out for her, Martyn has put himself in danger to protect Catelyn.

120 ACOK 47 Bran VI: Theon thinks he realizes his destiny, making bold moves with success. But really, he only misbehaves in predictable ways.

122 ACOK 49 Daenerys IV: Daenerys would find the truth of her destiny and direction by going into the House of the Undying. But her motive is the momentum of her childhood abuse: a translation of Viserys's arrogance. In contrast, Drogon guides her through the House of the Undying and rescues her.

125 ACOK 52 Jon VI: On his first true ranging with Qhorin Halfhand, Jon feels at home. He has memories of sleeping with his brothers as children at Winterfell. He means to be a noble man in action, yet he's confused when he won't kill Ygritte. Isn't he his father's son? Yet, Ned told Bran he practiced a princple of restraint by conscience. So, Jon did it right.

126 ACOK 53 Sansa IV: The Hound thinks he was good to Sansa when he saved her from the mob, but Sansa was disgusted by his look of triumph at driving off thirty peasants. He felt vindicated, but looked like more of a bully to Sansa than the mob that would have raped her. The Hound wants Sansa to see him as a loving savior because of his childhoos abuse. Sandor once shared Sansa's belief in knighthood, but he had to hide it, even disown it, to survive his brother. He erred in becoming Joffrey's dog and now he'd be Sansa's knight in shining armor. Except, he shulks at her heel, waiting for thanks that don't come.

130 ACOK 57 Theon V: Theon thinks he took Winterfell for glory and out of allegiance to Balon, but he did it to compensate for feeling he had something to prove. His childhood at Winterfell was humiliating to him and his idea of heroism is to humiliate others.

135 ACOK 62 Tyrion XIV: Loving savior Podrick Payne rescues Tyrion, having stayed beside him on the Blackwater. Tyrion showed a similar desire to protect Podrick when he tried to send him back inside for being too young.

136 ACOK 63 Sansa VII: The Hound proposes to protect Sansa and take her north or... the implication is that he would be her knight and loving savior. Really, though, he is in a state of activated trauma and would save himself by using her as a shield. He thinks he means well, but is seeking self healing rather than to perform the service he pretends. The Hound's anger is at himself for being too much a coward to face his brother. His primary motivation is to secure exoneration from his conscience for having been a victim of his bully brother.

137 ACOK 64 Daenerys V: Dany leans on the murmurings of the Undying to feel her sense of destined claim to Westeros, despite knowing they were meant to paralyze her. Errant hero Arstan Whitebeard saves Dany from the Sorrowful Man's manticore. He would say it was done in service to his queen and those who'd see her rise, but really he plays hero because he loves it and excels at it.

140 ACOK 67 Theon VI: Theon thought he won the north for Balon when he took Winterfell, and that he did it heroically, a deed for songs. Really, Theon disobeyed and appeared defiant and boneheaded to the father he was trying to impress. The errant hero seeks exoneration. Theon tries to shortcut the hard work of building trust through dutiful service. He thinks the servants of Winterfell will love him like they loved Ned just because he has the title of Lord and disregarding that he's defiled their homes and the memory of their good life, before. Now, holding out for rescue, Theon finally accepts that he wants freedom--a wilding's life--not to lead or rule.

141 ACOK 68 Tyrion XV: Tyrion craves absolution. Here it's subtly indicated that he feels guilty of murdering his mother. That guilt might have been put on him unfairly by Cersei and Tywin, but Tyrion's conscience does feel the weight of having set his wildfire trap on the Blackwater, commanding so many men to their deaths. He dreams of credit that would absolve him, of winning Tywin's approval, but Tywin takes all the credit even seems to scapegoat Tyrion as the cause of all the problems in the city: the disasterous Hand now replaced by his golden father. But Podrick Payne is the heroic loving savior Tyrion believes he is.

149 ASOS 6 Davos I: After surviving the Blackwater, Davos seeks redemption for having led his sons into the fire. Feeling guilty of having stood idly by while Melisandre took command, Davos means to repair his previous error by acting to stop her. However, the first form this will take will be to put a dagger in her heart, reminscent of the pageant where Stannis was shown to pull Lightbringer from the heart of the Mother to reference Nissa Nissa.

152 ASOS 9 Daenerys I: Jorah thinks he would be Dany's most loyal supporter out of esteem for her. Jorah thinks he's motivated by love of Daenerys but he's egotistically drawn to play hero (dragon rider) in her historic campaign on Westeros. That he proposes marriage reminds that Dany looks like his second wife, Lynesse, implying an unconscious motive to repair his pride and dignity which were casualties of that marriage. Jorah would repair his sense of personal failing from his last marriage by playing a hero in Dany's song. His proposal of marriage is presumptuous and suggests he has no real intention to be ruled by Dany as his queen. The chapter is about hidden enemies and treachery. That Jorah currently believes himself o loyal to Dany does more to paint him a future danger than reccommend him as a councillor. The theme of a betrayal for love opens in earnest here. Jorah thinks he plays loving savior to Dany, but he really aims to repair his damaged self-esteem.

154 ASOS 11 Davos II: Davos thinks himself on a holy mission, sent by the Mother, to slay Melisandre to save Stannis. Really, he's displacing his guilt related to leading his sons into the fire and is turning a blind eye to Stannis's role in that so he won't have to reach the conclusion he should abandon him. Davos thinks he plays loving savior to Stannis, but really aims to avenge his sons. By contrast, Salladhor Saan loves Davos annd would give him a job, even his own ship.

158 ASOS 15 Catelyn II: Robb wed Jeyne out of guilt at having been seduced by her in his grief. Thinking his motive is to be dutiful and that he plays loving savior to Jeyne, Robb is actually manipulated by Sybell acting on orders from Tywin.