Gather up, Zee. I eagerly await your observations.
Heh. I don't know if I'll bring anything new or refreshing in my perspective. I certainly don't have any "theories" to expose about what might happen, I just have general comments on the characters and their development so far.
Cersei: never have I despised a character as much as she. At one point I almost felt sorry for her when she went on about how Robert was abusive to her, but when you see what she does to all those around her, you can't help but pray for her downfall. Does she have ANY redeeming qualities whatsoever? I don't think so.
Jamie: rehabilitated and moving over to the "good guy" side. His development as a character has been a pleasure to read so far. I looked forward to all of Jamie's POV chapters, and since I'm getting so attached to the character I can only guess that Martin will kill him off soon enough, as he seems to do quite often. I love how Jamie uses his golden hand to slap people upside the head when he's upset now. Ser Ronnet felt the "golden hand of justice" when he insulted Brienne, had me laughing and cheering.
Catelyn: something has always bothered me about this character from the first book and onward. She's very self centered and feels that anything she does is just as long as it's for her or her children. I still remember from the first book after Bran was in the coma how she said to Jon "it should have been you". I know she was grieving and upset at seeing her husband's ******* son around, but it was not Jon's fault that he exists. Then of course at the Red Wedding what does she do when Robb is slain? She kills a totally innocent bystander because well, she had to kill someone right? I understand madness overtook her but I can't forgive that. I was happy to see her dead, although now she's back in un-dead form judging others again, and I hate it.
Sansa: I never really was that interested in the Sansa character until recently. I love the way Martin is handling the fact she's trying to maintain a new personality with Alayne. I've heard of abused children who are abducted and eventually follow their abductors and "forget" their origins and actually believe they belong to the abductor, I see Sansa potentially falling into that with Littlefinger. It will be very interesting to see where this storyline goes.
Greyjoys: Theon better hope he's already dead because I can't see him causing any sort of problems for either of his uncles should he return in a following book. The Crow's Eye and Victarion would make short work of that pansy. He sort of reminds me of the Viserys of house Greyjoy, he thinks he's more important than he really is. Other than that I don't know what to think of the whole Iron Throne plotline.
Brienne: I really like her as a character. Loyal, dedicated and stubborn in her cause to a fault. I really hope she survives the undead Catelyn encounter but it doesn't look good. Did I mention I hate the undead Catelyn?
Arya: Oh the sweet and innocent Arya who kills people in their sleep. Is her sudden blindness a punishment for her actions or some sort of training she must endure in her new environment? Perhaps a bit of both, only Martin knows.
There seem to be an abundance of plot lines and characters so I just don't know how everything will fit together in the end. On the Stark side we still have Bran, Rickon, Sansa, Arya and Jon - how will all their stories weave into the conclusion of the battle for Westeros?
Daenerys is the rightful queen, has the dragons and now the army, how will she interact with the other houses once she gets closer?
Lannisters, what the hell is going to happen to them now that Cersei seems to have screwed them over royally so to speak? What's Tyrion supposed to do now that mercenarys are out looking for his head? He's not too difficult a person to spot.
I can't type anymore, there's just too many different characters and plot lines to try and make sense of everything right now. All in all, it's a fantastic series so far and I find myself thinking about during the day whenever I have some free time.
Dance with Dragons, please be published soon...
. Welcome Zee.
