Intergenerational Missions/Ancestral Guidance/Divine Guidance /Own Religion

Where sigils and House words initially seem connected to history and landscape, making a game board of the map, they come to be discussed as intergenerational communications that may or may not be at all successful. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children, The Problem of Leadership, Prince & Pirate

111ACOK 38 Theon III: The Wild Hares is a gang of lordlings who've been riding around the countryside singing songs of daring deeds. But they were quickly killed by Theon's iron men because so untrained. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

Theon has a plan to advance his father's interests, but Dagmer is dubious because it is neither following orders not the Old Way. Aeron doesn't even understand why Theon would probe Benfred for intel before killing him. The Old Way might be ripe for revision, but who can revise it? The Young Are the Future But They Are Children,  The Problem of Leadership

112 ACOK 39 Arya VIII: Arya thinks she can't escape because of Weese, but my be outsmarting him nevertheless. She thinks he doesn't know she can read, but then she assumes neither Lucan nor the stableboys can read when they can. Arya does realize she needed to have named Tywin, but too late. She already named Weese. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

113 ACOK 40 Catelyn V: Catelyn has no faith in Edmure, but the good men are all old now. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

119 ACOK 46 Catelyn VI: Catelyn doesn't feel she can tell the new young septon about the shadow that slew Stannis to seek comfort. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

120 ACOK 47 Bran VI: Lewin poo-pooed Jojen greendom that warned of an attack on Winterfell, but is appalled he didn't see it coming when the castle is taken. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

121 ACOK 48 Arya IX: Arya's plan is not without merit but ultimately meddles more than innovates. The northern captives were going to be freed, but at a key moment. Arya's interference did not backfire, but it hurt their plan all the same. She assumed they'd kill the Bloody Mummers but they were in league with them. Arya removed the Bloody Mummers as aid to the northmen, not knowing the plan. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

125 ACOK 52 Jon VI: Though this is not specifically hilighted in the story, Jon volunteering to help kill the wildling scouts put the added weight of training him on Stonesnake. Had Qhorin told Jon he was too green and denied him, it might have been a humiliation. But Qhorin is in front of that stuff enough to only have called for volunteers because any could do this. A boy has to get experience somehow. When considered, Qhorin's rangers demonstrate the idea that excellence in skill comes from self-elected specialization. Qhorin guides his men to self-train as he leads them, while noting ways they might be able to do what no one else can. The idea Jon could pass as a deserter of the Night's Watch, though loyal, involves a variety of observations, including Jon's unseen arrogance (that leads to the disparagement Lord Snow) and smoldering rage. Intergenerational Missions, The Young Are the Future But They Are Children

138 ACOK 65 Arya X: Saluting Harrenhal's heart tree with "valar morghulis," Arya has begun to combine worship of the Old Gods, which she does to draw strength from ancestral roots, with Jaquen's words. In her desperation, Arya begs the heart tree for guidance and hears her father's voice say the words he did in the Tower of the Hand (chapter link) but Arya assigns them new meaning. The Young Are the Future But They Are Children, Ancestral Guidance, Own Religion, Intergenerational Missions

140 ACOK 67 Theon VI: "What wildling woman wouldn't want a prince in her bed? A slow smile crept across his face. A black cloak can't be turned. I'd be as good as any man." 926 Prince & Pirate

143 ACOK 70 Bran VII: Lewin uses his final strength to council Osha to separate Bran and Rickon: "the princes...Robb's heirs. Not...not together...do you hear?" 967 Prince & Pirate

A Storm of Swords

144 ASOS 1 Prologue: Mormont has become so lost in grief and powerless impatience he forgets the primary mission of the Night's Watch is to be a shield and hold the Wall. We hear the Night's Watch oath used to rally men to attack Mance's horde, though that is misuse of the oath's sacred pact to stay on the Wall. The quote Qhorin cites from an ancient Lord Commander is not used in it's original spirit either. It seems words do a poor job of preserving meaning. Intergenerational Missions

Chett would kill Lord Commander Mormont to ensure his escape. Cutting the enemy's head off makes sense. However, the more captains need killing the larger the mutineer arty must grow and a larger group will eventually talk or break. Chett tries to limit the number of men in his command but still must strugle against Lark the Sisterman's desire to include everyone in the mutiny. The Problem of Leadership

Chett would take Craster's and dub himself a king. Prince & Pirate

145 ASOS 2 Jaime I: When Jaime realizes they must change course, he must persuade Brienne, who he has massively antagonized.  The Problem of Leadership

146 ASOS 3 Catelyn I: Hoster meant well when he gave Lysa an abortive brew without her knowledge. he thought he was taske to see her well married and so not for love. But the Arryn bloodlines became weak for being kept pure. Hoster, wracked by conscience on his deathbed, confesses to himself that interfering on Lysa's behalf destroyed her. The abortion he forced on her ruined her womb, resulting in five miscarriages and only one sickly child. What he meant as an intergenerational fulfillment of duty reduced the liklihood of there being future generations. Intergenerational Missions

Leaders may make emotional decisions or require others to adhere to the strictures that were required of them, out of a hatred of those strictures, as I imagine Hoster held the Blackfish and Lysa to political marriages. It may be Edmure escaped this mandate and did not have a marriage arrnaged for him by his father because of what happened to Lysa. In this chapter, Catelyn, Hoster and Edmure are all seen making hasty, emotional decisions under duress. It even calls into questions whether any individual is truly equipped to be a ruler. The Problem of Leadership

147 ASOS 4 Arya I: Leadership is well described in a chapter where the most skilled in a particular provence leads, deferring to superior experience or understanding but not to doubt or softness/weakness. In such a system, all lead. The Problem of Leadership

149 ASOS 6 Davos I: Feverish and grieving his sons, Davos would almost rather die than try to climb to hail the passing ship. When he realizes the time has come to act or miss his chance, Davos reaches for his pouch of fingerbones to find it gone. Then he breaks down, despairing, and begs the Mother for mercy. He had been preparing to risk all, so reached for his luck. The Mother denies him. He hears her voice blame him for the fire that took his sons, suggesting it was called down upon them by the fires that burned his gods. Then Davos angers, blaming Melisandre. The Mother reminds him he rowed Melisandre into Storm's End. He stood idly by. Davos determines to act and finds the strength to climb the Merling King's spear to hail the passing ship. Though it may be the voice of conscience Davos hears, it incites him to murder Melisandre, an act more in line with vengeance than with mercy. Own Religion

A Storm of Swords

152 ASOS 9 Daenerys I: Dany rules, so any who would change course must convince her. Councillors may be more or less influential, even unrelated to the merit of their proposals. Councillors may be more problematic than enemies, since they may be close friends. How can a ruler operate with councillors or without them? The Problem of Leadership

153 ASOS 10 Bran I: If Bran doesn't find his teacher and learn to master warging, he's likely to be consumed by Summer into a brutish, wild demeanor: stealing, bullying, living only for himself. Yet, that's true for most. Bran's predicament is only that he must reach his potential or remain crippled and dwindle away. We see the intergenerational mission of mankind in Bran's decision to take the hard road of self-improvement instead of letting himself become yet anther wolf.

Prince. The man-sound came into his head suddenly, yet he could feel the rightness of it. Prince of the green, prince of the wolfswood. He was strong and swift and fierce, and all that lived in the good green world went in fear of him.

Deer, and fear, and blood. The scent of prey woke the hunger in him. The prince sniffed the air again, turning, and then he was off, bounding along the ridgetop with jaws half-parted. The far side of the ridge was steeper than the one he'd come up, but he flew surefoot over stones and roots and rotting leaves, down the slope and through the trees, long strides eating up the ground. The scent pulled him onward, ever faster.  Prince & Pirate

154 ASOS 11 Davos II: Davos misses the sign he's being incapacitated by the gods to prevent his intended murder. "It is nothing, he told himself. Surely the gods did not bring me safe through fire and sea only to kill me with a flux. 154 Davos would restore Stannis to rule over Melisandre, instead of the way things have become. The Problem of Leadership

Salladhor Saan is called "prince" by the captains of his fleet. Though Davos tells Khorane he would go directly to Stannis, the captain says "My prince will wish to see you at once." 135 Stannis has made Saan Lord of Blackwater Bay, a legal pirate, so he can seize what Stannis owes him from ships destined for King's Landing. Prince & Pirate

155 ASOS 12 Jaime II: Jaime wishes he hadn't worn his white cloak the day he slew Aerys. He wore his golden armor to indicate he was a Lannister and on the side of the rebels at the gate. Yet, treachery as a house policy is dubious.

Cleos would have fallen into the trap at the inn, where Brienne and Jaime both saw through it. The Problem of Leadership

156 ASOS 13 Tyrion II: Tywin's (suposed) prohibition of whores is starting to make sense to Tyrion. What he wants is a wife and she has to be highborn and much else.

273 ADWD 2 Tyrion I: Tyrion notes that there are seven of the poisoned mushrooms

The empty flagon slipped from his hand and rolled across the yard. Tyrion pushed himself off the bench and went to fetch it. As he did, he saw some mushrooms growing up from a cracked paving tile. Pale white they were, with speckles, and red-ribbed undersides dark as blood. The dwarf snapped one off and sniffed it. Delicious, he thought, and deadly.

There were seven of the mushrooms. Perhaps the Seven were trying to tell him something. He picked them all, snatched a glove down from the line, wrapped them carefully, and stuffed them down his pocket. Own Religion

317 ADWD 46 The Blind Girl: The kindly man tells Arya the man who presumes to judge and kill assumes the power that should only belong to gods.

The girl was not sorry, though. Dareon had been a deserter from the Night's Watch; he had deserved to die. She had said as much to the kindly man.

"And are you a god, to decide who should live and who should die?" he asked her. "We give the gift to those marked by Him of Many Faces, after prayers and sacrifice. So has it always been, from the beginning. I have told you of the founding of our order, of how the first of us answered the prayers of slaves who wished for death. The gift was given only to those who yearned for it, in the beginning … but one day, the first of us heard a slave praying not for his own death but for his master's. So fervently did he desire this that he offered all he had, that his prayer might be answered. And it seemed to our first brother that this sacrifice would be pleasing to Him of Many Faces, so that night he granted the prayer. Then he went to the slave and said, 'You offered all you had for this man's death, but slaves have nothing but their lives. That is what the god desires of you. For the rest of your days on earth, you will serve him.' And from that moment, we were two." His hand closed around her arm, gently but firmly. "All men must die. We are but death's instruments, not death himself. When you slew the singer, you took god's powers on yourself. We kill men, but we do not presume to judge them. Do you understand?"

No, she thought. "Yes," she said. Intergenerational Missions

326 ADWD 55 Cersei I: The High Septon is considered almost a god.

Ser Kevan was unmoved. "If that is your wish, you may soon have it granted. His High Holiness is resolved that you be tried for regicide, deicide, incest, and high treason."

"Deicide?" She almost laughed. "When did I kill a god?"

"The High Septon speaks for the Seven here on earth. Strike at him, and you are striking at the gods themselves." Own Religion