Brienne and Pod are now with Ser Hyle Hunt as they return to Maidenpool. Brienne isn’t particularly a big fan of this idea, what with the mutual hatred she shares with Lord Randyll “Sam’s Dad” Tarley. But then again, her lead on finding the Stark girl crossing to Essos has gone dry and been replaced with a new story that the Stark girl, who Brienne assumes to be Sansa, was spotted with The Hound.
Hyle Hunt: Lord Tarley! I have returned from a journey with Lady Brienne and we can into a gang of three vicious outlaws – former members of the Bloody Mummers.
Brienne: Yeah, and watch this stupid bitch Hyle claim credit for killing all of them, just like stupid ass knights always take credit.
Hyle: Fortunately, Lady Brienne slayed all three of them by herself in fierce hand-to-hand combat!
Brienne: Wow! That was unexpected. Thanks for the credit, Hyle. Well, you fucking sexist asshole Randyll. You mocked me for being a woman pretending to be a soldier, but here I am. I killed three of the deadliest outlaws in the lands. Men that your men had been hunting for months and been unable to find and kill. You said that because I was a woman I’d never have the heart to kill.
Lord Tarley: …
Brienne: I guess by defying all your claims I’ve completely invalidated your false realities and proven everything you supposedly “know” is wrong.
Lord Tarley: … I… ermm… you’re a freak of nature. That’s the only reason why you were able to do it. It’s time for you to wear proper ladies clothes now, fuck off back to Tarth, and marry a man to be a subservient piece of property.
Brienne: WHAT?! But I just PROVED TO YOU WITH EVIDENCE AND FACTUAL STATEMENTS, ALONG WITH WITNESSES WHO SAW IT ALL HAPPEN—
Hyle: --It’s true. I saw it all!
Brienne: --That I am a skilled and capable warrior, better than any of your own men. Your distorted, backwards world view said it wasn’t possible. But now that you see that it is possible… you just say, “Oh well of course it was possible, I knew it all along because you’re a freak. Now I will ignore everything, pretend it never happened, and disregard it because it invalidates my false truths.”
Lord Tarley: Well I did vote for Trump, so yeah.
Brienne: GO FUCK YOURSELF. I hope a fucking dragon burns you to death.
Hyle: Wow, that’s a bit harsh.
Brienne: You know who is next on my list? The Hound! You’ve been hunting for him too, haven’t you?
Lord Tarley: Aye. He’s joined Beric’s crew.
Brienne: But you and your men haven’t gotten him because YOU’RE FUCKING WEAK-ASS BITCHES! Well I’m going to do what you can’t and prove that I’M MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU. Maybe after I capture and kill him, I’ll bring his head back to you too and throw it on your shitty lap so you can once again live in the ULTIMATE FUCKING SHAME OF BEING OWNED BY A WOMAN.
Lord Tarley: *eye twitches uncontrollably, but just stands there and pretends like nothing is wrong*
Podrick, as her squire, pulls out a microphone for her to drops and they walk away.
Lord Tarley: You’re… you’re BANNED FROM MAIDENPOOL! YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO GET OUT OF TOWN AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! I’M TAKING MY FOOTBALL AND RUNNING HOME WITH IT BECAUSE YOU BEAT ME! I HOPE YOU GET RAPED! WHHAAAAAAA!!!!
Randyll starts old man sobbing. Hyle runs to catch up with Brienne and Pod.
Brienne: Oh no! You’re not coming with us.
Hyle: Oh, come on! Meet me tomorrow morning at the Stinking Goose. I might have some information for you on the Hound by then.
Brienne eyes him suspiciously for a minute, but then nods her head. She then heads out to find lodging for the night. But it’s hard to get on such short notice. Fortunately, Pod remembers something…
Pod: Oh hey! You know when all the inns are filled up, sometimes the ships on the docks rent out their cabin space for really low, discount prices! I mean there are all those rooms going unused because and the sailors are all ashore drinking and getting STDs from prostitutes.
Brienne: Hrm. Good call, Podrick. Sounds quite affordable.
And so they go down to the shipyard where they pass by a bunch of ships, including one called “The Titan’s Daughter,” which is just casting off.
Pod: Hey Brienne! You know how you like going around and asking everyone if they’ve seen any Stark daughters? How about you go up and ask the Captain of that ship before he casts off?
Brienne: Nah. Everyone I ask tells me “no.” It’s getting to be pretty worthless now.
Pod: HAHAHAHA! This is funny because the Titan’s Daughter is actually the ship which carried Arya Stark to Braavos!
Brienne: Wait! Time out from the narrative, and a discussion of timelines in this book. Arya going to Braavos was in Chapter 6 and now we’re in Chapter 25. My initial assumption is that this ship doesn’t actually have Arya on it now and that maybe it’s back on a return voyage to Braavos. After all, the Arya II chapter which occurred before this one elapsed a lot of time and it makes it appear that Ayra has been training for months. And this chapter is placed AFTER that chapter.
Pod: Right. That’s not a bad assumption. But then again, the books really start to get fuzzy with timelines and the order of events. You’ll have to recall that at the beginning of A Storm of Swords, GRRM issues “A Note on Chronology” that talks about such problems with assuming that chapter ordering is definitely linked to the chronological occurrence of events. He rightly notes that while some chapters take place over the course of an hour, other chapters take place over a day, days, weeks, months, half a year, etc. And they’re happening in geographically distinct parts of the world. For that note, he explicitly states that many chapters in that book do not follow the chapters from the previous book, but instead overlap them.
Brienne: Indeed, I remember that note. And I also know that this book splits the narrative in half and leaves out some fan-favorite POVs like Jon Snow, Dany and Tyrion. Therefore the events of the next book, A Dance with Dragons, occur simultaneously to this one. But these aren’t two different books this time. It’s the same book and you’d think, at the very least, if GRRM wanted to imply that we had “just missed” Arya here, that this chapter would have been set before Arya II, AKA Chapter 22. Because the first Arya chapter does indeed span a lot of time and explain her first moments aboard the ship – one could place this Chapter any time after that chapter and yet before her second chapter and narratively it might still be believable that we “just” missed her. After all, Arya left from the Saltpans which is much more inland than Maidenpool. So if Arya is indeed on this ship, she’d already be a little bit in to her journey.
Pod: Well, I guess the answer is we’ll never know for sure. Maybe Arya is actually on that ship right now and the chapter order is just not synched up chronologically. Or maybe she’s been gone for months and months the ship has already returned for another voyage between Westeros and Essos.
Brienne: Okay, we can go back to the actual narrative now.
They find a ship to sleep in for the night, but Brienne has trouble sleeping because she dreams of the men she killed. And killing people for the first time is no joke. She wakes up and heads to the Stinking Goose.
Hyle: Hey Brienne!
Brienne: Ugh. I do not need your help.
Hyle: Then why did you come to the Stinking Goose, where I explicitly told you to meet me this morning?
Brienne: Just give me this info you have on the Hound and get out of my face.
Hyle: Well… you see… first of all that stuff that Lord Randyll told you about the Hound joining with Lord Beric? It’s all bullshit. He made it up himself to try to turn the smallfolk against Beric. Why? Because Beric is actually fighting for the smallfolk like some sort of fucking Robin Hood and he’s a stand-up dude. Meanwhile, Tarley is just another fucking Lord who will burn down everything they own and have his soldiers rape and kill them.
Brienne: Yes, that sounds like Randyll Tarley.
Hyle: And also… so… I got this cousin named “Alyn,” right? And Alyn said that the Hound was last seen at the Saltpans trying to find a ship.
Pod: Oooh! How recently was that? That might help us explain our timeline questions above!
Brienne: No, Pod! No! We need to just give up on that now and move on.
Hyle: So anyway, he apparently never got on that ship because he’s stuck in the Saltpans with a whole bunch of people hunting him down. Not only is the Hound NOT with Beric. Beric is actually trying to catch him. And it’s not just Beric. Apparently there is this OTHER band of people that are following this lady named LADY STONEHEART. Yeah. Crazy. Nobody knows quite who she is. Some people say that she’s Beric’s lover. Other people say that she’s some lady that was killed by the Freys but brought back to life by a kiss from Beric and now she can’t die just like he can’t die.
Brienne: Sounds like a bunch of crazy talk.
Hyle: Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I know this guy named Septon Meribald. He’s a circuit septon that roams from town to town along the Riverlands and he’s making his way to the Saltpans. We should join up with him.
Brienne: “We?” There is no we. I’m not having Randyll Tarley’s spy follow me along.
Hyle: Tarley? No. Fuck that dude. You know what he just did? He fired me for my insolence by supporting you. I’m pretty much a free agent now. I get to be what I always wanted to be! A hedge knight! Roaming the country and doing heroic deeds… for money, of course. And I bet there is a pretty penny for me if I catch that Sansa Stark girl.
Brienne: Even more of a reason why YOU’RE NOT COMING WITH ME.
Hyle: Just try to stop me. It’s my tip and my lead. I’m going with Septon Meribald to the Saltpans. If you’re going too… that really means YOU’RE tagging along with ME. Not the other way.
Brienne: *grumble*grumble*
The next day, they meet up with the septon.
Meribald: Ah, hello! Hello! Good to meet you, m’am! You’re welcome to join me on my journey.
Dog: Woof!
Meribald: Oh, I also have a dog. His name is dog. Because I am lazy.
Brienne: Well, you seem like a jolly and affable guy. It’s so weird to run into a non-asshole character. I mean look at you. Generally nice. You seem super humble too. You don’t even wear shoes. Your feet are a mess, honestly.
Meribald: Ah yes, but I feel nothing walking on my bare feet because they are so callused and hard from years of walking on them that they are sort of like shoes. I swore of shoes years ago as a pennace for all the sins I had done.
Brienne: Sins?
Meribald: Yes, I am a man of the seven gods now, but years ago I was quite the sinner. Even when I was a septon! Why there were many young maidens who came to me in confidence with confessions and I… well… popped dem cherries.
Brienne: Hrm. Gross. At least you said “maidens,” so I can pretend that you’re talking about women in their 20’s rather than girls.
Pod: And we know he actually is a septon of the faith of the seven rather than a Catholic priest because he said “maidens” rather than “boys.” Am I right?
Pod goes up for a high five, but Brienne leaves him hanging and shakes her head in disgust at him.
Dog: *woof*
Meribald: I was a sinner, it’s true. But I’ve put that behind me. Some company and people to talk to on my voyage will be good.
And so they make their way out on the road. Occasionally, they stop in a town and the septon says some prayers for the local folks. Then they head to the next town.
Along the way on the road…
Meribald: Now tell me Brienne, why do you wish to go to the Saltpans?
Brienne: Oh, we’re hunting down The Hound, who has kidnapped Sansa Stark, and has gone there.
Meribald: YIKES.
Meribald immediately gets on his knees and says a prayer for them.
Brienne: Oh, that’s too kind, septon. You don’t need to pray for us.
Meribald: Oh but I do. The Hound? Guess you’ll be dead soon. Anyway. Continue on with me. This way! And let’s stick together closely. There is danger on the roads.
Pod: Bandits?
Meribald: Aye, some of those. But more dangerous is the wolves. There is a HUGE PACK of them roaming through the country and killing people like it’s nothing. They have acquired a taste for human flesh and now eat nothing else. They say that there is a monstrous she-wolf that leads them all.
Brienne: Oh sweet. Another Nymeria reference! I’m starting to think that even though this chapter is mine… it’s really more about Arya.
And they continue on still.
They reach another town and receive a warning from a villager.
Villager: Watch out on this road, guys.
Brienne: The wolves thing?
Villager: No. Broken men.
Brienne: Broken men? What are those?
Hyle: Ugh. The worst. Thieves and outlaws. They should be killed on sight!
Meribald: Please, no, good Ser Hyle! If we come across these men, leave them to me and do not engage them yourselves. While it’s true these men can be dangerous… they are more to be pitied than feared! For anyone can turn into a broken man if the wrong things happen to them. A man can be a good, dutiful man of the village who leads a good and moral life. And then war comes through and destroys everything around him. Perhaps this man join the war as a soldier with a couple of other brothers, friends and villagers. If he’s lucky enough to not be killed himself… then many of the brothers and friends he knows will be killed. And what do the smallfolk who fight in these wars get? Barely anything. It’s the Lords who win the treasures and claim the lands. The men are taught to be warriors and killers. All they get is what they rape and plunder. Then they go home. Perhaps the war ends, or perhaps they decide to be deserters from the army. Either way… they go home a different man. Or perhaps they don’t go home at all because there home has been destroyed in war. It’s the military industrial complex. It grinds us all down into cogs in the machine of war. It destroys us. These are the broken men!
Hyle: …
Brienne: …
Pod: …
Villager: …
Dog: *woof*
Brienne: Dude, that was SUPER fucking depressing.
Meribald: Yeah, sorry.
Brienne: And it also sounded extremely autobiographical. So how old were you when you had to go to war the first time?
Meribald: I was too young. And I watched all my brothers die.
Hyle: …
Brienne: …
Pod: …
Villager: …
Dog: *woof*
Brienne: Well SHIT, septon. I’m so sorry. How the hell are you a functioning, good, kind person these days and not totally fucked up?
Meribald: Well, as noted. I was a fucked up person. Until the faith of the seven saved me.
Hyle: I take it the war you speak of was the War of the Ninepenny Kings?
Meribald: That is what they called it. Though I never saw a king or earned a penny. So the name is pretty misleading. The “war” part is accurate though. A war it was.
Hyle Hunt: Lord Tarley! I have returned from a journey with Lady Brienne and we can into a gang of three vicious outlaws – former members of the Bloody Mummers.
Brienne: Yeah, and watch this stupid bitch Hyle claim credit for killing all of them, just like stupid ass knights always take credit.
Hyle: Fortunately, Lady Brienne slayed all three of them by herself in fierce hand-to-hand combat!
Brienne: Wow! That was unexpected. Thanks for the credit, Hyle. Well, you fucking sexist asshole Randyll. You mocked me for being a woman pretending to be a soldier, but here I am. I killed three of the deadliest outlaws in the lands. Men that your men had been hunting for months and been unable to find and kill. You said that because I was a woman I’d never have the heart to kill.
Lord Tarley: …
Brienne: I guess by defying all your claims I’ve completely invalidated your false realities and proven everything you supposedly “know” is wrong.
Lord Tarley: … I… ermm… you’re a freak of nature. That’s the only reason why you were able to do it. It’s time for you to wear proper ladies clothes now, fuck off back to Tarth, and marry a man to be a subservient piece of property.
Brienne: WHAT?! But I just PROVED TO YOU WITH EVIDENCE AND FACTUAL STATEMENTS, ALONG WITH WITNESSES WHO SAW IT ALL HAPPEN—
Hyle: --It’s true. I saw it all!
Brienne: --That I am a skilled and capable warrior, better than any of your own men. Your distorted, backwards world view said it wasn’t possible. But now that you see that it is possible… you just say, “Oh well of course it was possible, I knew it all along because you’re a freak. Now I will ignore everything, pretend it never happened, and disregard it because it invalidates my false truths.”
Lord Tarley: Well I did vote for Trump, so yeah.
Brienne: GO FUCK YOURSELF. I hope a fucking dragon burns you to death.
Hyle: Wow, that’s a bit harsh.
Brienne: You know who is next on my list? The Hound! You’ve been hunting for him too, haven’t you?
Lord Tarley: Aye. He’s joined Beric’s crew.
Brienne: But you and your men haven’t gotten him because YOU’RE FUCKING WEAK-ASS BITCHES! Well I’m going to do what you can’t and prove that I’M MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU. Maybe after I capture and kill him, I’ll bring his head back to you too and throw it on your shitty lap so you can once again live in the ULTIMATE FUCKING SHAME OF BEING OWNED BY A WOMAN.
Lord Tarley: *eye twitches uncontrollably, but just stands there and pretends like nothing is wrong*
Podrick, as her squire, pulls out a microphone for her to drops and they walk away.
Lord Tarley: You’re… you’re BANNED FROM MAIDENPOOL! YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO GET OUT OF TOWN AND I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! I’M TAKING MY FOOTBALL AND RUNNING HOME WITH IT BECAUSE YOU BEAT ME! I HOPE YOU GET RAPED! WHHAAAAAAA!!!!
Randyll starts old man sobbing. Hyle runs to catch up with Brienne and Pod.
Brienne: Oh no! You’re not coming with us.
Hyle: Oh, come on! Meet me tomorrow morning at the Stinking Goose. I might have some information for you on the Hound by then.
Brienne eyes him suspiciously for a minute, but then nods her head. She then heads out to find lodging for the night. But it’s hard to get on such short notice. Fortunately, Pod remembers something…
Pod: Oh hey! You know when all the inns are filled up, sometimes the ships on the docks rent out their cabin space for really low, discount prices! I mean there are all those rooms going unused because and the sailors are all ashore drinking and getting STDs from prostitutes.
Brienne: Hrm. Good call, Podrick. Sounds quite affordable.
And so they go down to the shipyard where they pass by a bunch of ships, including one called “The Titan’s Daughter,” which is just casting off.
Pod: Hey Brienne! You know how you like going around and asking everyone if they’ve seen any Stark daughters? How about you go up and ask the Captain of that ship before he casts off?
Brienne: Nah. Everyone I ask tells me “no.” It’s getting to be pretty worthless now.
Pod: HAHAHAHA! This is funny because the Titan’s Daughter is actually the ship which carried Arya Stark to Braavos!
Brienne: Wait! Time out from the narrative, and a discussion of timelines in this book. Arya going to Braavos was in Chapter 6 and now we’re in Chapter 25. My initial assumption is that this ship doesn’t actually have Arya on it now and that maybe it’s back on a return voyage to Braavos. After all, the Arya II chapter which occurred before this one elapsed a lot of time and it makes it appear that Ayra has been training for months. And this chapter is placed AFTER that chapter.
Pod: Right. That’s not a bad assumption. But then again, the books really start to get fuzzy with timelines and the order of events. You’ll have to recall that at the beginning of A Storm of Swords, GRRM issues “A Note on Chronology” that talks about such problems with assuming that chapter ordering is definitely linked to the chronological occurrence of events. He rightly notes that while some chapters take place over the course of an hour, other chapters take place over a day, days, weeks, months, half a year, etc. And they’re happening in geographically distinct parts of the world. For that note, he explicitly states that many chapters in that book do not follow the chapters from the previous book, but instead overlap them.
Brienne: Indeed, I remember that note. And I also know that this book splits the narrative in half and leaves out some fan-favorite POVs like Jon Snow, Dany and Tyrion. Therefore the events of the next book, A Dance with Dragons, occur simultaneously to this one. But these aren’t two different books this time. It’s the same book and you’d think, at the very least, if GRRM wanted to imply that we had “just missed” Arya here, that this chapter would have been set before Arya II, AKA Chapter 22. Because the first Arya chapter does indeed span a lot of time and explain her first moments aboard the ship – one could place this Chapter any time after that chapter and yet before her second chapter and narratively it might still be believable that we “just” missed her. After all, Arya left from the Saltpans which is much more inland than Maidenpool. So if Arya is indeed on this ship, she’d already be a little bit in to her journey.
Pod: Well, I guess the answer is we’ll never know for sure. Maybe Arya is actually on that ship right now and the chapter order is just not synched up chronologically. Or maybe she’s been gone for months and months the ship has already returned for another voyage between Westeros and Essos.
Brienne: Okay, we can go back to the actual narrative now.
They find a ship to sleep in for the night, but Brienne has trouble sleeping because she dreams of the men she killed. And killing people for the first time is no joke. She wakes up and heads to the Stinking Goose.
Hyle: Hey Brienne!
Brienne: Ugh. I do not need your help.
Hyle: Then why did you come to the Stinking Goose, where I explicitly told you to meet me this morning?
Brienne: Just give me this info you have on the Hound and get out of my face.
Hyle: Well… you see… first of all that stuff that Lord Randyll told you about the Hound joining with Lord Beric? It’s all bullshit. He made it up himself to try to turn the smallfolk against Beric. Why? Because Beric is actually fighting for the smallfolk like some sort of fucking Robin Hood and he’s a stand-up dude. Meanwhile, Tarley is just another fucking Lord who will burn down everything they own and have his soldiers rape and kill them.
Brienne: Yes, that sounds like Randyll Tarley.
Hyle: And also… so… I got this cousin named “Alyn,” right? And Alyn said that the Hound was last seen at the Saltpans trying to find a ship.
Pod: Oooh! How recently was that? That might help us explain our timeline questions above!
Brienne: No, Pod! No! We need to just give up on that now and move on.
Hyle: So anyway, he apparently never got on that ship because he’s stuck in the Saltpans with a whole bunch of people hunting him down. Not only is the Hound NOT with Beric. Beric is actually trying to catch him. And it’s not just Beric. Apparently there is this OTHER band of people that are following this lady named LADY STONEHEART. Yeah. Crazy. Nobody knows quite who she is. Some people say that she’s Beric’s lover. Other people say that she’s some lady that was killed by the Freys but brought back to life by a kiss from Beric and now she can’t die just like he can’t die.
Brienne: Sounds like a bunch of crazy talk.
Hyle: Yeah, I guess. Anyway, I know this guy named Septon Meribald. He’s a circuit septon that roams from town to town along the Riverlands and he’s making his way to the Saltpans. We should join up with him.
Brienne: “We?” There is no we. I’m not having Randyll Tarley’s spy follow me along.
Hyle: Tarley? No. Fuck that dude. You know what he just did? He fired me for my insolence by supporting you. I’m pretty much a free agent now. I get to be what I always wanted to be! A hedge knight! Roaming the country and doing heroic deeds… for money, of course. And I bet there is a pretty penny for me if I catch that Sansa Stark girl.
Brienne: Even more of a reason why YOU’RE NOT COMING WITH ME.
Hyle: Just try to stop me. It’s my tip and my lead. I’m going with Septon Meribald to the Saltpans. If you’re going too… that really means YOU’RE tagging along with ME. Not the other way.
Brienne: *grumble*grumble*
The next day, they meet up with the septon.
Meribald: Ah, hello! Hello! Good to meet you, m’am! You’re welcome to join me on my journey.
Dog: Woof!
Meribald: Oh, I also have a dog. His name is dog. Because I am lazy.
Brienne: Well, you seem like a jolly and affable guy. It’s so weird to run into a non-asshole character. I mean look at you. Generally nice. You seem super humble too. You don’t even wear shoes. Your feet are a mess, honestly.
Meribald: Ah yes, but I feel nothing walking on my bare feet because they are so callused and hard from years of walking on them that they are sort of like shoes. I swore of shoes years ago as a pennace for all the sins I had done.
Brienne: Sins?
Meribald: Yes, I am a man of the seven gods now, but years ago I was quite the sinner. Even when I was a septon! Why there were many young maidens who came to me in confidence with confessions and I… well… popped dem cherries.
Brienne: Hrm. Gross. At least you said “maidens,” so I can pretend that you’re talking about women in their 20’s rather than girls.
Pod: And we know he actually is a septon of the faith of the seven rather than a Catholic priest because he said “maidens” rather than “boys.” Am I right?
Pod goes up for a high five, but Brienne leaves him hanging and shakes her head in disgust at him.
Dog: *woof*
Meribald: I was a sinner, it’s true. But I’ve put that behind me. Some company and people to talk to on my voyage will be good.
And so they make their way out on the road. Occasionally, they stop in a town and the septon says some prayers for the local folks. Then they head to the next town.
Along the way on the road…
Meribald: Now tell me Brienne, why do you wish to go to the Saltpans?
Brienne: Oh, we’re hunting down The Hound, who has kidnapped Sansa Stark, and has gone there.
Meribald: YIKES.
Meribald immediately gets on his knees and says a prayer for them.
Brienne: Oh, that’s too kind, septon. You don’t need to pray for us.
Meribald: Oh but I do. The Hound? Guess you’ll be dead soon. Anyway. Continue on with me. This way! And let’s stick together closely. There is danger on the roads.
Pod: Bandits?
Meribald: Aye, some of those. But more dangerous is the wolves. There is a HUGE PACK of them roaming through the country and killing people like it’s nothing. They have acquired a taste for human flesh and now eat nothing else. They say that there is a monstrous she-wolf that leads them all.
Brienne: Oh sweet. Another Nymeria reference! I’m starting to think that even though this chapter is mine… it’s really more about Arya.
And they continue on still.
They reach another town and receive a warning from a villager.
Villager: Watch out on this road, guys.
Brienne: The wolves thing?
Villager: No. Broken men.
Brienne: Broken men? What are those?
Hyle: Ugh. The worst. Thieves and outlaws. They should be killed on sight!
Meribald: Please, no, good Ser Hyle! If we come across these men, leave them to me and do not engage them yourselves. While it’s true these men can be dangerous… they are more to be pitied than feared! For anyone can turn into a broken man if the wrong things happen to them. A man can be a good, dutiful man of the village who leads a good and moral life. And then war comes through and destroys everything around him. Perhaps this man join the war as a soldier with a couple of other brothers, friends and villagers. If he’s lucky enough to not be killed himself… then many of the brothers and friends he knows will be killed. And what do the smallfolk who fight in these wars get? Barely anything. It’s the Lords who win the treasures and claim the lands. The men are taught to be warriors and killers. All they get is what they rape and plunder. Then they go home. Perhaps the war ends, or perhaps they decide to be deserters from the army. Either way… they go home a different man. Or perhaps they don’t go home at all because there home has been destroyed in war. It’s the military industrial complex. It grinds us all down into cogs in the machine of war. It destroys us. These are the broken men!
Hyle: …
Brienne: …
Pod: …
Villager: …
Dog: *woof*
Brienne: Dude, that was SUPER fucking depressing.
Meribald: Yeah, sorry.
Brienne: And it also sounded extremely autobiographical. So how old were you when you had to go to war the first time?
Meribald: I was too young. And I watched all my brothers die.
Hyle: …
Brienne: …
Pod: …
Villager: …
Dog: *woof*
Brienne: Well SHIT, septon. I’m so sorry. How the hell are you a functioning, good, kind person these days and not totally fucked up?
Meribald: Well, as noted. I was a fucked up person. Until the faith of the seven saved me.
Hyle: I take it the war you speak of was the War of the Ninepenny Kings?
Meribald: That is what they called it. Though I never saw a king or earned a penny. So the name is pretty misleading. The “war” part is accurate though. A war it was.
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