Book 1, Chapters 10 and 11. I'll be talking about things that haven't happened yet but everyone assumes has to happen before the series ends.
Jon II
So I'm reading these books while attending law school and bumming meals off my aunt and uncle because they live nearby. (Thanks guys; pizza's on me sometime.) It's easy for me to empathize with Jon. Not cuz I'm a bastard who doesn't fit in, but because I greatly appreciate their hospitality. I'm not their kid but I abuse their hospitality all the time. Uh. This analogy was a lot clearer in my head in the fall, when winter was coming and all that.
That, and back when I was a sweet summer child who thought George knew a thing or two about pacing, I figured Jon was the guy who, as my dad put it when we started watching the show, "is gonna go off and be the real hero."
Or maybe he said that about Arya. Arya and Jon have a great little repartee going on, which is another reason why I found it really easy to like Arya. Unlike her princess sister, Arya likes the bastard.
I'll get to her in a moment. Let's talk about the Stark who really hates Jon. Now look, Catelyn has a pretty good reason to hate him, it's true. He's a living reminder of her husband's infidelity. I don't begrudge her that. I don't even begrudge her wishing Jon had fallen in Bran's place. Grieving mother, I get that. I do begrudge her telling Jon that. I mean damn.
I like how in about three paragraphs Jon goes from being cowed by his stepmother to being all defiant. I still don't get why he's being rushed off to the Wall (in terms of story pacing), but I like that he decides he's not going to be cowed by her because he's about to face a bunch of bigger dangers than Catelyn Stark.
Next there's a brief interlude with Robb where we see that Robb's starting to take over as Lord of Winterfell. There is no narrative reason to make Robb a POV character in this book (since he's with Bran or Catelyn the entire time, except for one battle near the end), so we have to see him through the other characters' eyes. From the exchange here, and the one in Bran's chapter, I gather that Robb and Jon get on pretty well. Yes, there's the I'm the Lord of Winterfell flashback later on, but... The sense I got from Arya's chapter was that she's the only trueborn Stark kid he's close to, and I don't get that sense in the other chapters.
Speaking of Arya, the final scene of the chapter is between him and her. He gives her Needle and they have a bit of telepathy, first with the "don't tell Sansa" bit and then when they get around to naming the sword. So maybe he's close with at least three of his half-siblings, but he's closest with her. Eew, highlighting that so soon after the Lannister incest makes it feel dirty.
Jon tells her to find someone to practice with. Oh...
Congratulations, Jon, you're what we like to call the "proximate cause" of the next important death in the book.
Daenerys II
The chapter begins with Ser Jorah Mormont jesting. Let that sink in for a moment. Yeah we had the bit where Tyrion did his little backflip during the king's feast, but... Jorah Mormont jesting?
The wedding plays out (for the most part) similarly to the TV show, with the gifts and disembowelments. (Shut up, spell-check, that's a word.) There is a lot more internal monologing (also a word) on Dany's part, with her going on about being Daenerys Stormborn, blood of the dragon, etc.
She gets her handmaids from Viserys, who got them for free from Illyrio. Viserys comments that Doreah is "very good" at "the womanly arts of love," as both he and Illyrio can attest. Ew, Vis, you are a creeper. And that whole other thing we learn about what you tried to do the night before the wedding in Dance doesn't help at all.
Jorah gives her some old books. What ever happened to those? I kind of feel like Jorah is this story's shadow version of Aragorn. He should be the heir to a great house, but he's out being an adventurer and serving as a protector to the protagonist instead. He's that cool guy who's been everywhere, knows eighteen zillion languages, and can murder you with his pinky finger. Okay I'm exaggerating, but come on. What other character in this story would be more likely to know how to create an antidote out of a weed? I'll gush over Jorah some more later on in the book. Moving on.
Illyrio gives Dany three petrified dragon eggs. For the first three books, I always thought that Dany got her dragons a bit too easily and wanted to see what would happen if she got separated from them. Then I found out, and wished I hadn't, but I'm getting ahead of myself. "Oh, Illyrio's crazy rich and made a lot of money selling Dany to Drogo." Yeah, okay. How does that work if the Dothraki don't use money? Horses and slaves, right. I get the feeling that Essos's entire economy runs on slavery. And spice, at least in Qarth. And prostitutes in Lys. Great. Still, given how rare dragon eggs are in-universe... it's just too convenient that Illyrio happens to have the only three known to exist across all five books and decides to give them to Dany. Especially seeing as how nobody in Qarth will give her squat in the next book.
Yes, yes, Illyrio is plotting to get the Targaryens back on the throne. But he's plotting to put Viserys on the throne (Dance blah blah revelation blah blah switched babies blah blah - point is, he's not planning on putting Dany on the throne, Dany's just a bargaining chip right now). Why does Dany get the eggs? This. Makes. No. Sense.
The TV show misses some stuff about how Dany gives certain gifts - namely weapons - to her husband because he is a man and those are weapons and females don't get pointy things. Well, except for...
Yup, obligatory part about how the TV show makes the consummation more of a rape. Not that Dany really has any choice whatsoever in the book version either. So, HBO... you aged Dany up to make it less squicky, and then you made it more of a rape. Interesting choice.
Anyway, what happens in the book is Dany keeps saying "no" while Drogo undresses and caresses her until he's got her hot and bothered enough to say "yes," and then the chapter ends.
Parting thoughts
I don't think the juxtaposition of these two chapters was an accident. Jon and Dany are (probably) Ice and Fire respectively, and as much as it pains me to say it, the entire King's Landing plot probably is a minor plot point on George's original outline that spiraled out of control. Jon and Dany are the protagonists of the series, even if they're confined to the sidelines for most of it. In these chapters, they both undergo a major change. Jon's leaving his old family to join the Night's Watch; Dany is going to escape her brother's shadow as she becomes khaleesi. Jon's change is presented to us as his choice (again I'll stress that I'm puzzled as to exactly why he wants to join the Night's Watch), but we know from Catelyn's chapter that he doesn't have as much of a choice as he thinks he has. The close of Dany's chapter is presented as her consenting to having sex with Drogo, but she really has even less of a choice than Jon does.
How long will it be before these characters stop reacting and start acting? Place your bets.
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