Episode 115: A CLASH OF KINGS, DAVOS II: "Shadow of a Doubt, Part 1" SHOW NOTES! (Patreon)

Hello and welcome to the Not A Cast … podcast: the one true chapter-by-chapter podcast going through A Song of Ice and Fire one chapter a week. I’m one of your hosts Jeff better known as BryndenBFish. 

And I’m your other host Emmett, better known as PoorQuentyn.          

Welcome to the one hundred and fifteenth episode of the Not A Cast, titled: “Shadow of a Doubt, Part 1: An Analysis of ACOK, Davos II,” in which Stannis and his new sycophants would very much like to move on from Renly’s death, please...but Ser Cortnay Penrose won’t let them.

This episode is brought to you by our Small Council: 

• Hand of the King WolfmanZack 
• Grand Maester Timbob
• Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Mark N. 
• Lord Travis, Master of Ships and Warden of the Waves
• Ser Keith J, Master of Whisperers
• Lord Philip the Merciful, Master of Laws
• Archmaester June, Healer of the Lesser Poxes
• Ragged Michael, Warden of the North
• Nelson the Hammer, Prince of Dragonstone
• Scarlett the Other Red Woman and Mistress of Whisperers
• Lord Micah: Warden of the West and the Kraken’s Bane
• Lord James: the Jim that was Promised
• The High Bearded Priest
• Lord Jake, Assistant (to the) Hand of the King
• Lady Xena Valyrian
• Ser Jack, Lord of Ser Arthur Dayne and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's Sad Prophecy Boys Club
• His Grace’s High Inquisitor Frank
• Ser Jasper the Cruel, the King’s Justice
• Laurence, Prince of Dorne
• Kelly, Warden of the East and Mistress of (Old) Bay of Crabs
• Steven the Steadfast, Master of Hounds
• The Blue Winter Rose Knight of Highgarden
• Lady Stephanie
• Lord Anonymous
• Lord Carlos
• Lord Andrew the Restless, a Priest of the Drowned God
• The King's Cook, Nolly (No-lee) Olly (Oh-lee), Master of Cannoli
• Ser Sourcedelica 
• Prince Matthew of House Targaryen - Proud Soy Boy of Summerhall, Defender of the 5th Book and Swing Dancer with Dragons
• Ser K.W. Dent, Elsie of the Blackwood Guard, and Batman of the Seven Kingdoms
• Lord Penchant for Nostalgia
• Queer Alex, Rainbow Commander of the They-des and Gentle-thems (ladies and gentlemen)
• Lord Clint, Esq., Master of Absolutely, Positively NOT Serving As A Spy for Several Unnamed High Lords and Ladies In Order to Further the Secret Blackfyre-Style Conspiracy to Overthrow The Oppressive Small Council
• Haldivar, The Waiter for TWOW
• A-a-ron Damphair Prophet of the Forsaken and High Priest of Euron Crows Eye
• Lieutenant Glenn Lord of H town
• Vanerys of the House Colgaryen, the First of Her Name, Princess of Dragonstone, Mistress of Art, The Overworked, Queen of the Pencils, the Eraser and the First Draft, Queen of Monochrome, Devotee of the Great GOT, Portraitist of the Realm, Lady Realist of the Seven Kingdoms, Blender of Paints and Maker of Drawings
• Seanwell the Slayer
• Lord Adam T
• Lady Alexandra of Tarth
• Ser Kristoph Logas, Bloody Scorpion of the Red Field, Defender of the Letter of Kin, and the Wolverine of house Qorgyle
• Lady Elizabeth, Mistress of Horse (Faced Lesbians)
• Ser Josh Snow Bastard Bounty Hunter of the North
• Ser Veyor, Chief of Parties in the Frozen Wastes
• Lord Peter
• Lady Ashley
• Lady Raj, Mistress of Horse
• The Dead Sheppard Reborn, Preacher of the Poor Fellows
• Marshall Harrison—Absent, shipwrecked in the Jade Sea
• Grave-Robb Stark, the Cadaver King and Horror of Harrenhal
• Olaf, proponent of establishing a feudal, pseudodemocratic system of Great Councils, wherein every count votes
• Ser Tim: The Knight Who Was Guided By Voices
• Lord Nick
• And our newest member of the small council: Ser Jack, Lord of Ser Arthur Dayne and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen’s Sad Prophecy Boys Club. Welcome Ser Jack!

Spoiler warning: All published books, 5 novels, 3 Dunk and Egg novellas, histories, interviews, TWOW sample chapters, as well as Game of Thrones the TV show. Anything and everything!

Question

Ser James Cook, a Poor Fellow patron who asked this question for our Q&A episode, asks:

Before my question I wanted to take the time to thank you both for what you do here. I’ve managed to keep the spark of ice and fire alive inside me and you both are partially responsible for this, looking forward to listening for the books/chapters yet to come. 

Now for both Emmet and Jeff I wanted to ask if you’ve ever been into RPG/ role-playing games such as dungeons and dragons? 

I’ve been the dungeon master for a game of thrones setting D&D for almost 2 years now set in the time period leading up to and beyond the dance of the dragons. The story picked up in 125 AC and we are now 2 years in and my how the story/histories have changed. 

I know this isn’t so directly related to ASOIAF however I was curious on if anyone has attempted something similar and if there was any sort of community resource or interest in something like this?

Long may your podcast reign gentlemen, 

James K Cook III

So, thank you Ser James for the question. If you’d like to ask us questions we’ll answer here on the NotACast pod-cast, you are welcome to become a Sworn Sword or higher patron where you can receive show notes, special post and bonus episodes like Part 2 of “The Second Coming”: our four-part analysis of TWOW, The Forsaken -- coming for all Poor Fellow and above patrons next week if you’re listening to this episode on the release day!

As I sit down and write this, my fingers are tingling in anticipation of writing the synopsis of “The Forsaken.” Can’t wait for it and all the awesome insight you’ll bring to the chapter, ser! But enough about patreon, when we last checked in with Davos, he had had watched his gods burn on the Dragonstone beach, heard the stories of Azor Ahai and Stannis’ goshawk and been charged to bring word of Stannis’ kingship and Cersei’s incest to the smallfolk. Let’s find out what happens to Davos Seaworth in this synopsis of ACOK, Davos II, Part 1!

Synopsis

Ser Cortnay Penrose wore no armor. He sat a sorrel stallion, his standard-bearer a dapple grey. Above them flapped Baratheon's crowned stag and the crossed quills of Penrose, white on a russet field. Ser Cortnay's spade-shaped beard was russet as well, though he'd gone wholly bald on top. If the size and splendor of the king's party impressed him, it did not show on that weathered face.

They trotted up with much clinking of chain and rattle of plate. Even Davos wore mail, though he could not have said why; his shoulders and lower back ached from the unaccustomed weight. It made him feel cumbered and foolish, and he wondered once more why he was here. It is not for me to question the king's commands, and yet . . .

This is going to be another one of those “synopsis” things I write where every ounce of my being wants to just quote the whole thing from start to finish. Hoo boy. Such a fucking great chapter. Into the breach.

Davos knows that everyone who is with him has a better birth than he does, noting their intricately-crafted armor and festooned headgear. But at the very least, Stannis also looks out of place alongside Davos with wool and boiled leather (Hello Sean T Collins). He does have that flame crown though. Nope. Still not sensing any symbolism with that whatsoever.

Weirdly, this was the closest that Davos had been to Stannis since he’d been back. Davos joined Stannis’ fleet off the coast of Storm’s End eight days ago and immediately tried to see his king. But He’d been rebuffed. He was too busy. Politics. People. The worst. 

Now that Stannis Baratheon had come into his power, the lordlings buzzed around him like flies round a corpse. He looks half a corpse too, years older than when I left Dragonstone. Devan said the king scarcely slept of late. "Since Lord Renly died, he has been troubled by terrible nightmares," the boy had confided to his father. "Maester's potions do not touch them. Only the Lady Melisandre can soothe him to sleep."

Is that why she shares his pavilion now? Davos wondered. To pray with him? Or does she have another way to soothe him to sleep? it was an unworthy question, and one he dared not ask, even of his own son. Devan was a good boy, but he wore the flaming heart proudly on his doublet, and his father had seen him at the nightfires as dusk fell, beseeching the Lord of Light to bring the dawn. He is the king's squire, he told himself, it is only to be expected that he would take the king's god.

Look, Davos, the implication here is that Melisandre is singing Stannis a R’hlloric lullaby. I thought Stannis was harder than that. 

Ahem.

Davos takes a gander at Storm’s end, sees that the walls were thick and high. Thick and high. Just like … But before Stavos has the chance to unpack that, Stannis Baratheon arrives in front of history’s greatest monster: Ser Cortnay Penrose. And look, it’s time to unleash you, Emmett. Or shall I say, Ser Cortnay!

"Ser," [Stannis] said with stiff courtesy. He made no move to dismount.

"My lord." That was less courteous, but not unexpected.

Lord Alester Florent complains that Cortnay should have said “Ur grace”, and Davos notices how richly-attired Lord Florent is. The Florents had been the first to turncloak to Stannis’ side. And now that they’d turned cloak, they’d also forsaken the Faith of the Seven and taken on the red god.

Ser Cortnay Penrose ignored him, preferring to address Stannis. "This is a notable company. The great lords Estermont, Errol, and Varner. Ser Jon of the green-apple Fossoways and Ser Bryan of the red. Lord Caron and Ser Guyard of King Renly's Rainbow Guard . . . and the puissant Lord Alester Florent of Brightwater, to be sure. Is that your Onion Knight I spy to the rear? Well met, Ser Davos. I fear I do not know the lady."

"I am named Melisandre, ser." She alone came unarmored, but for her flowing red robes. At her throat the great ruby drank the daylight. "I serve your king, and the Lord of Light."

"I wish you well of them, my lady," Ser Cortnay answered, "but I bow to other gods, and a different king."

"There is but one true king, and one true god," announced Lord Florent.

"Are we here to dispute theology, my lord? Had I known, I would have brought a septon."

"You know full well why we are here," said Stannis. "You have had a fortnight to consider my offer. You sent your ravens. No help has come. Nor will it. Storm's End stands alone, and I am out of patience. One last time, ser, I command you to open your gates, and deliver me that which is mine by rights."

"And the terms?" asked Ser Cortnay.

"Remain as before," said Stannis. "I will pardon you for your treason, as I have pardoned these lords you see behind me. The men of your garrison will be free to enter my service or to return unmolested to their homes. You may keep your weapons and as much property as a man can carry. I will require your horses and pack animals, however."

"And what of Edric Storm?"

"My brother's bastard must be surrendered to me."

"Then my answer is still no, my lord."

Stannis clenches his claw, and Melisandre asks that the Lord of Light protect Ser Cortnay.

"May the Others bugger your Lord of Light," Penrose spat back, "and wipe his arse with that rag you bear."

You do that too well, Emmett. Alester tells Cortnay to watch his fucking mouth. Besides, Robert’s bastard is related to Lord Alester too. So, you can trust Stannis as you would trust an honora-

"I know you for a man of ambition," Ser Cortnay broke in. "A man who changes kings and gods the way I change my boots. As do these other turncloaks I see before me."

Everyone starts getting muttering and getting as angry as a bunch of Ohioans when they find a single speck of paprika on their boiled chicken breast. For his part, Davos figures that Ser Cortnay isn’t really wrong at all. Most of these bros had turned cloak. Lord Bryce Caron makes the case that no, no. They hadn’t turned cloak really. They just, uh, were now serving the only lord of Storm’s End since Renly’s very mysterious and very possibly accidental death:

"If that is so, why is the Knight of Flowers not among you? And where is Mathis Rowan? Randyll Tarly? Lady Oakheart? Why are they not here in your company, they who loved Renly best? Where is Brienne of Tarth, I ask you?"

"That one?" Ser Guyard Morrigen laughed harshly. "She ran. As well she might. Hers was the hand that slew the king."

"A lie," Ser Cortnay said. "I knew Brienne when she was no more than a girl playing at her father's feet in Evenfall Hall, and I knew her still better when the Evenstar sent her here to Storm's End. She loved Renly Baratheon from the first moment she laid eyes on him, a blind man could see it."

Lord Florent says that Guyard’s theory is fine, but his theory is that Catelyn did it. No, no, Lord Caron puts in. It was Brienne who did it. Ser Emmon Cuy was so totally telling the truth when he said so when he was dying from um … who killed him again?

Contempt thickened Ser Cortnay's voice. "And what is that worth? You wear your cloak of many colors, I see. The one Renly gave you when you swore your oath to protect him. If he is dead, how is it you are not?" He turned his scorn on Guyard Morrigen. "I might ask the same of you, ser. Guyard the Green, yes? Of the Rainbow Guard? Sworn to give his own life for his king's? if I had such a cloak, I would be ashamed to wear it."

Morrigen bristled. "Be glad this is a parley, Penrose, or I would have your tongue for those words."

"And cast it in the same fire where you left your manhood?"

"Enough!" Stannis said. "The Lord of Light willed that my brother die for his treason. Who did the deed matters not."

It’s just a big-ass mystery. Very sad. Whodunit. Who knows? Anyways, thoughts and prayers. Let’s move on. But it does matter to Ser Cortnay. 

"I have heard your proposal, Lord Stannis. Now here is mine." He pulled off his glove and flung it full in the king's face. "Single combat. Sword, lance, or any weapon you care to name. Or if you fear to hazard your magic sword and royal skin against an old man, name you a champion, and I shall do the same." He gave Guyard Morrigen and Bryce Caron a scathing look. "Either of these pups would do nicely, I should think."

Ser Guyard Morrigen and Bryce Caron all want a chance to kill Ser Cortnay, but Stannis refuses them and Cortnay:

Ser Cortnay did not seem surprised. "Is it the justice of your cause you doubt, my lord, or the strength of your arm? Are you afraid I'll piss on your burning sword and put it out?"

"Do you take me for an utter fool, ser?" asked Stannis. "I have twenty thousand men. You are besieged by land and sea. Why would I choose single combat when my eventual victory is certain?" The king pointed a finger at him. "I give you fair warning. If you force me to take my castle by storm, you may expect no mercy. I will hang you for traitors, every one of you."

"As the gods will it. Bring on your storm, my lord-and recall, if you do, the name of this castle." Ser Cortnay gave a pull on his reins and rode back toward the gate.

And that is ACOK, Davos II, Part 1! GRRM nails most chapter openings, but tell me there’s another better chapter opening than Stannis/crew vs. Ser Cortnay?

Depth

Like Storm’s End itself, Davos II looms over ACOK, a gargantuan stone monolith constructed so smoothly and strongly that it seems impenetrable. But just as Davos and Melisandre manage to sneak their way underneath the castle, so we must find our way inside this incredible chapter. It’s an embarrassment of riches. Some of George’s best dialogue, some of his best imagery, some of his richest and most ambitious work in terms of politics and magic and complex characterizations...it’s no surprise that we had to split this one into three episodes! As good as Catelyn III and IV (the previous chapters at Storm’s End) were, Davos II takes the next step, combining both of those chapters’ strengths into a single towering whole. Not only is it my favorite chapter in the book so far, it rivals Dany IV (the House of the Undying) and Catelyn VII (her dialogue with Jaime) as my favorite chapter in ACOK, full stop.

In ACOK, the reader is supposed to feel this ping-pong effect with Stannis Baratheon in the story. He’s a taciturn jackass to Cressen who allowed the man to be mocked before he died. Fuck that guy! No, wait. He’s a sad guy who’s only going for the Iron Throne, because it’s his right, and because he’s very sad. Sympathize with him! No, no, he’s back to being a jerk in this chapter who gets villain-coded given all the weasels and opportunists with him in the parlay with Ser Cortnay. But it’s clear that even in the first third of the chapter that GRRM wants readers to see Stannis (and Davos) as distinct from the “tail of traitors” as Stannis will refer to them later in the book. It’s also clear that GRRM wants us to see Stannis as a half-bad onion. Neither good nor bad. And this opening scene from the chapter introduces this duality through an almost entirely dialogue scene.

• Ser Cortnay Penrose is perhaps the greatest of all one-off characters in ASOIAF, making both an immediate and lasting impact on the reader with only one scene before he dies
• Given how little time he gets, there’s no pretense of psychological depth. Cortnay spurs conflict in others, rather than reflecting it himself. He is here to prevent an easy resolution. He is a fly in the ointment for both Stannis and his new followers, literally standing in between them and an open road to power, thwarting their easy narrative
• He is here to insist that it matters how one comes to power. Having a solid justification for taking power is necessary but not sufficient. If you do it wrong, you have failed
• For Cortnay, the murder of Renly is an original sin that corrupts everything Stannis is doing now, a rotten foundation that hollows out the whole edifice, making it unworthy
• This is in part because Cortnay was personally loyal to Renly, who left him in charge of Storm’s End. But it’s also a general statement about how power covers its tracks. You wash your hands of blood to climb the ladder, but you’re washing them with more blood
• Renly’s personal qualities really aren’t relevant to this argument, because the argument isn’t just about the murder--it’s about Team Stannis’ subsequent coverup of the murder
• Is this the kind of conduct you want to see in your leader, however righteous their initial claim to power might be? Cortnay says no, and I think it’s difficult to disagree with him
• He gets a perfect introduction that summarizes this defiant truth-to-power role:
  • Ser Cortnay Penrose wore no armor.
• And why would he bother with armor? Renly’s armor didn’t save him, after all. By not wearing armor, Cortnay calls attention to the manner of Renly’s death. Purely in his visual presentation, even before he opens his mouth, he’s challenging Stannis’ narrative
• Cortnay knows he’s signing his own death warrant in this scene; by not wearing armor, he shows that he does not care. It is worth it, in his mind, to die in defiance of injustice, corruption, deceit, and murder. His doom and his defiance are therefore inextricable
• Like Catelyn in the nearby sept, he makes himself metaphorically naked before the truth, leaving behind the surface signifiers of wealth and war in favor of the real thing
• Armor wouldn’t protect him from Stannis’ shadowsword, just like how armor dragged Lord Brax to his watery death at the Battle of the Camps. It’s not a shield, it’s baggage
• There’s an almost man standing in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square feel to Cortnay standing in front of all of these heavily armored knights and lords by himself.
• As opposed to Stannis who is deliberately villain-coded, Cortnay is hero-coded.
• He knows that the end of all of this is his death. He’ll die for Renly or for Edric Storm.
• The problem with this is that as much as Stannis and Melisandre will state that everything has been preordained - all seen in the fires - is that really the case for Ser Cortnay?
• Does this knight have to die? I really don’t think so!
• We’re going to unpack this more fully in our discussion part of the conversation, but Stannis is offering generous terms of Cortnay and his men.
• And Stannis carries through with this mercy, even after he swears he’ll do otherwise unless Cortnay surrenders.
• But that’s post-facto. Perhaps Cortnay thinks that Stannis is insincere and will break his word and kill him and his men anyways.
• But Stannis points out that most of the party with him were all on Renly’s side not that long ago, and now they’re a part of his war council and diplomatic entourage.
• Ultimately, my point is that Cortnay chose to die. He didn’t have to.
• Renly’s death emphasized how we’re all just flawed frightened mortals underneath the glittering surface of kingship. The songs spur us on, but they don’t save us from mortality
• Despite Cortnay’s loyalty to Renly, he is not invested in that glittering surface, because it has passed to Stannis. Now, he seeks to undercut it, to point out it’s a shadow on a wall
• When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose. By taking off his armor, Cortnay indicates to Stannis that unlike the lords at his back, he can’t be bribed into compliance
  • If the size and splendor of the king’s party impressed him, it did not show on that weathered face. 
• To hell with your titles, Cortnay is saying. To hell with your fancy armor. To hell with your mealy-mouthed justifications. I will peel it all away to find the truth
• Hmm, that sounds familiar. Who does he sound like there? Yep, exactly like Stannis. This is one of the many rich ambiguities and contradictions of Davos II
• Stannis is essentially being defied by...himself! He’s being called out and mocked by his own shadow, so to speak, the part of himself that hates what he’s doing
• Because Stannis is not a POV character, George externalizes his conflicts onto the characters around him, to clue the reader in to what’s happening in his head
• Ser Cortnay is bald, like Stannis. He is blunt and brusque, like Stannis. He has a taste for hard truths, like Stannis, and no taste for material wealth, like Stannis. He is a fly in the ointment for Stannis just like Stannis is for the Lannisters
• Above all, he is stubbornly holding Storm’s End under siege despite overwhelming odds, which is exactly what Stannis did during Robert’s Rebellion
• That siege was the foundation of Stannis’ reputation (for both good and ill) and his worldview. That Robert never thanked him for it, and indeed gave the castle to Renly, stands foremost among the fraternal grievances that have produced this mess
• Stannis is essentially doing all of this to try and fill the hole inside left first by Robert and then by Renly. George uses the one-off character of Cortnay Penrose to show us how Stannis has only managed to dig himself deeper into that hole
• By laying siege to Storm’s End, Stannis is recreating the siege during Robert’s Rebellion...but he’s switched sides. Now he stands in for the Mad King
• This perfectly fits with what’s been happening in ACOK so far. Stannis is so angry and sad about Robert failing to love him that he is basically trying to take back his decision to lay it all on the line for his big brother during the war, becoming the besieger instead
• It’s as if Stannis went back in time to change his mind. Knowing that Robert would prove unworthy of his support, he’s flipped sides to Team Aerys, Melisandre playing Varys
• In the process, he becomes alienated from his own younger self, the one who stayed loyal to Robert. After all, Cortnay is loyal to Renly, aka Young Robert
• So instead of Stannis finding his hoped-for catharsis in this defiance of his brothers, he has stumbled into an even deeper level of hell. He still doesn’t have their love, and now they’re both dead, and the man in the mirror is telling him he’s become a villain
• By killing his brother, the Lord of Storm’s End flying the Baratheon banner, Stannis set his heart on fire. His new lords are dousing that fire with water; Cortnay Penrose with his Baratheon banner is here to spray gasoline on it, to force him to face what he’s done
• Stannis is the last Baratheon, the rightful heir, but everything about this scene emphasizes how he is still on the outside, both literally and figuratively
• Stannis has more in common with Cortnay than he does with those former followers of Renly who are backing him now. But that’s exactly why Stannis and Cortnay come into conflict. Mutual stubbornness, as with Stannis v. Renly. Neither can back down.
• To bolster this point, this is something we’ll cover next week for part 2 of this series but Stannis and Davos have this conversation:
  • “You esteem this Penrose more than you do my lords bannermen. Why?"
    
    "He keeps faith."
• Keeping faith, along with Stannis’ meritocratic sense of justice, is part of the reason why Davos holds to Stannis.
• Stannis kept faith with Robert, valuing the older laws of blood ties over the sworn loyalty to Aerys II.
• And though we pointed out in our episodes on the prologue that Stannis’ motivation in supporting Robert wasn’t based on Aerys II Targaryen’s delegitimizing conduct as sovereign, we see a parallel in Cortnay defying Stannis in a similar lens.
• As you were saying, Cortnay sees Stannis as committing the unforgivable sin in kinslaying Renly.
• Would Stannis have surrendered to Aerys? Should Cortnay? (I mean no to the former, yes to the prior. But you see my point?) 
• As such, George takes care to emphasize how different both Cortnay and Stannis are from the lords now gathering around Stannis as their new king--they’re the villains here
• First and foremost among them is Lord Alester Florent, among the most singularly unlikable characters in ASOIAF, though hardly the most reprehensible
• He is a hypocrite to his empty core, his supercilious sanctimony constantly undercut by the grubbiness of his actions and the blindness of his worldview
• All he cares about is his own comfort, yet much like Xaro Xhoan Daxos, he spills words indulgently all over the place to pretend like he has a higher cause
• Indeed, George frames Alester as the Westerosi equivalent of the Qartheen elites. Tall, courtly, and rich, wearing fantastically decorated armor--the glittering surface of lapus lazuli that George has said defines fantasy as a genre
• Same goes for the other lords present at this parlay:
  • Every man of the party was of better birth and higher station than Davos Seaworth, and the great lords glittered in the morning sun. Silvered steel and gold inlay brightened their armor, and their warhelms were crested in a riot of silken plumes, feathers, and cunningly wrought heraldic beasts with gemstone eyes.
• As is the case with lesser fantasy, this exterior beauty masks an inner emptiness. There is nothing to any of these men. They have no values worthy of the name
• Again as in Qarth, beauty is not truth, truth is not beauty. The lords wear their wealth on their bodies not just to show off, but to distract and mollify the masses
• They look like gods! They look like they’ve captured the forces of nature itself and bent them to their will (hence the animal symbolism that Illyrio deconstructs)
• How could one possibly think to defy them? How could one conceive of a different arrangement of power? Just look at the shining surface. Don’t think!
• But the gods did not raise up Alester Florent. Men did. The fox on his armor does not indicate that his power is the state of nature. It’s a ploy on his part to make you think that. It’s a shadow on a wall. The image of glory. It didn’t save Renly
• All this wealth is made possible by taxing the other classes, who unlike the nobility, have to actually work for a living. These lords cover that up just like they’re covering up Renly’s death. They’re no more loyal to him despite their oath than they are to the smallfolk they are all sworn to protect. They are unworthy of their own imagery
• By stripping off his armor, Cortnay is defying their deceit. It’s not exactly a systemic critique--Cortnay isn’t Beric, redistributing his knightly privileges
• But it is Cortnay’s way of saying that the image does not comport with the reality. Alester’s splendid armor does not make him splendid. It covers up his corruption
• Shadow on a wall here. They trotted up with much clinking of chain and rattle of plate. Even Davos wore mail, though he could not have said why.
• These lords and knights are projecting their power, wealth and station to Ser Cortnay.
• But in being so fucking ostentatious about it, they undercut Stannis’ cause. 
• There is no need for everyone to be as my wife says “dressed to the 9’s.” They’re doing so, because they’re:
  • compensating for their former support for Renly
  • might be a little scared given all the blood magic about
  • attempting to show how overwhelmingly powerful they are.
• The problem is that they can’t scare Cortnay, and the entire effect results in a complete farce.
  • Davos had almost forgotten how high and thick the walls of Storm's End loomed up close.
• That’s Cortnay’s armor. He doesn’t need to pretend to be powerful when he’s in the foreground of the castle that’s never been taken by force of arms.
• And as much shade as I’m throwing on Stannis and his party here, at least the king recognizes the silliness his lords are exhibiting in their display: Like Davos, the king was plainly garbed in wool and boiled leather
• He immediately gets all petty about how Cortnay addresses the situation, insisting that there is only one true king (Stannis) and only one true god (R’hllor)
• Alester speaks as though he has been a diehard Stannis loyalist from the very beginning, as if these are the ironclad values that make him who he is
• No doubt he talked about Renly and the Seven in the same way! Alester’s only core belief is that whatever side he’s on is the right one by virtue of him belonging to it
• It’s the inverse of “I would never want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.” Moral righteousness is an inherent feature of being Lord Alester Florent
• As such, he doesn’t even appear to recognize the base hypocrisy of his statements. They are as true to him now as the opposite was true to him a month ago
• Again: it’s all surface. Alester flaunts external beauty as though it speaks to inner beauty, without doing any of the hard work and self-sacrifice required for inner beauty
• Cortnay shows us what loyalty looks like, and so he cannot abide Alester and Alester cannot abide him. They have irreconcilable ways of looking at the world and themselves
• Cortnay mocks how “notable” the company is, sarcastically referring to Alester as “puissant.” You’d like to think of yourselves that way, but I know better, and will say so
• And who is it that commits treason while Stannis is on the Blackwater?
• It’s Lord Alester: the puissant lord who protesteth too much about his very real, very true loyalty to Stannis
• He’s not the first lord to betray Stannis at or immediately after the Blackwater, but he is the first one who does so without threat of immediate violence if he doesn’t.
• Where is Stannis in the midst of all this? The one true king with his one true god, having finally come into his power? This is what he’s wanted all along: the powerful lords who loved his brothers more than him have finally bent the knee and given him a big army
• Yet look at how George describes what ought to be Stannis’ apotheosis:
  • Now that Stannis Baratheon had come into his power, the lordlings buzzed around him like flies round a corpse. He looks half a corpse too, years older than when I left Dragonstone. 
• In turning Renly into a literal corpse, Stannis has transformed himself into a figurative corpse. He is dead on the inside; he has set his heart on fire. So much for apotheosis!
• Turns out that a crown is cold compared to the warmth of a brother’s smile. Turns out that power isn’t an adequate replacement for love. Turns out there is no victory to be had
• These splendid and well-spoken lords are framed as so many flies buzzing around a corpse. Feasting crows, taking advantage of the corrupted nature of power
• What will it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul? Stannis got everything he thought he ever wanted, but in the process, gave up what he actually wanted
• He can keep that hideous realization tamped down, compartmentalized away in his mind, as long as no one points it out to his face. But Cortnay Penrose is doing that
• Stannis wants to close the door on what happened, but the ambiguous nature of what happened is precisely what makes it impossible to close the door. There is no catharsis
• You can see Stannis trying to put his best foot forward in this scene. He’s giving Cortnay one last chance to save his life, and the lives of his men. He ignores Cortnay calling him “my lord.” He offers what seem on the face of it to be generous terms:
  • "I will pardon you for your treason, as I have pardoned these lords you see behind me. The men of your garrison will be free to enter my service or to return unmolested to their homes. You may keep your weapons and as much property as a man can carry. I will require your horses and pack animals, however."
• Stannis is not an unreasonable man obsessed with punishment and his own rights in this scene. But Cortnay still refuses, because of Edric Storm, the next Robert, the next Renly
• What Stannis did to get here, the way in which he put himself in the position to even make this generous offer to Cortnay: that is precisely why Cortnay cannot accept 
• Stannis points out that the hard logistical facts on the ground all point against Cortnay. They are outnumbered. They have no allies. If Stannis attacks, he will eventually win
• Cortnay’s refusal does not guarantee Edric’s safety. If Stannis takes the castle by force, Edric comes to him with all the rest. Edric will arguably be more in danger from a battle!
• Moreover, Cortnay is putting the lives of all his men at risk. Stannis says he will let them go home if they surrender. Cortnay’s refusal could mean they all die in battle
• Catelyn argued that Brienne devoting herself to vengeance against Stannis was a waste of the good things she could still do with her life. Does the same logic not apply here?
• I think it does, but that logic has to be tempered with context. Cortnay’s better options refused his call, and he does not believe Stannis is acting in good faith
• That’s not to say that Cortnay directly accuses Stannis of killing Renly. He doesn’t; he seems to realize he has no direct evidence on which to found such an accusation
• However, his belief that Stannis probably did give the order is clearly motivating both his attitude and his actions. Why should he entrust Edric Storm to Stannis after that? More to the point, how can he trust Stannis at all? Why would a kinslayer honor a promise?
• How does Cortnay know that his men won’t be killed after they surrender? That corrosive lack of trust is why he doesn’t believe Alester’s reassurances about Edric
• Honor and ambition, in Cortnay’s framing, are irreconcilable opposites. Ironically, he could be describing Renly, every bit as much as these lords who flocked to him
• As Davos thinks to himself, Cortnay is right about these former allies of his. Neither gods nor kings mean anything to them. Only power, by whatever means they can grasp it
• You can see the reason why Stannis chose to bring these former Renly loyalists with him instead of Lords Adrian Celtigar or Monford Velaryon.
• Stannis is trying to undercut Cortnay’s argument. See, I spared these traitorous assholes, and they really suck. 
• It’s a good optics framework for the negotiation. The problem as you’re highlighting is how Stannis comes across and his reputation as Catelyn puts it of being “notoriously without mercy” and the very party he arrives with.
• Besides Davos, these jabronis don’t really come off as anything more than grasping, ambitious bootlickers. Stannis has pardoned them, forgiven them but he still thinks they’re traitorous scum. It’s a sentiment that Cortnay shares! Ding. Another way that Stannis and Cortnay are alike.
• As always, Stannis comes striding into most scenes with good intentions. He’s not here to just kill Cortnay. But he brings his baggage with him, and the execution inevitably falls to pieces.
• Still, it seems clear that whatever Stannis’ or the party he brings’ priors, Cortnay isn’t coming to this parlay with any intention of negotiating the surrender of Storm’s End.
• But Renly was the same way! He only appeared to be different, enough to inspire devotion in Cortnay Penrose. For Cortnay, that devotion is what makes him different
• Renly having no claim and being rather power-hungry himself isn’t really the point for Cortnay. It’s that he, Cortnay, picked a side and stuck to it, and these turncloaks didn’t
• Naturally, these lords don’t take kindly to being called turncloaks. Bryce Caron comes forward to defend their honor...but his cloak is literally twisting in the wind!
• Bryce’s argument is both sensible and ridiculous, fitting the complexity and ambiguity of this chapter. On the one hand, he’s right that Stannis is the last Baratheon standing
• As such, it’s only to be expected that the nobility of the Stormlands would line up behind Stannis now. Cortnay counters by pointing out that Loras, Randyll, Mathis, etc. aren’t here...but that’s not really a relevant response, because they’re not Stormlanders
• Unlike Bryce Caron, their fealty was never to Storm’s End. It was to Highgarden. The Tyrells of Highgarden are committed foes of Stannis Baratheon, and vice versa
• There is a curious presence among Stannis’ party though. It’s Ser Jon Fossoway.
• Ser Jon Fossoway of the New Barrel is a knight from the Reach, formerly sworn to Renly but now he’s here in Stannis’ party possibly there to show the “inter-regional” aspect of Stannis’ forgiveness (and new army).
• If you’ll allow a small digression here: Between the publication of A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, GRRM published The Hedge Knight: the first of the Dunk and Egg novellas which features the character of Raymun Fossoway who was knighted by Lyonel Baratheon to fight for Dunk at the Trial of Seven at Ashford Meadows.
• This was in contrast to his traitorous cousin Steffon Fossoway who fought for Aerion Brightflame.
• This was where House Fossoway of the New Barrel originated from, and having Ser Jon Fossoway here is a neat way that GRRM integrated some of his novella work into the main series.
• Anyways, I digress! Continue on!
• So Bryce’s argument has logic to it. On the other hand, like Alester, he is desperately trying to pretend that these were always his beliefs when they clearly weren’t
• If Stannis is Robert’s rightful heir, why wasn’t Bryce behind him from the start? Why did he ever don that rainbow cloak for Renly? For power and glory, of course, his true values
• Referring to Stannis as Renly’s heir regarding Storm’s End is another fig leaf. Can you still claim an inheritance if you had to murder the current occupant to lay claim to it?
• This contradiction is what Cortnay is getting at when he wonders why “those who loved Renly best” are not here. Those who, like Cortnay, loved Renly personally are not interested in the fig leaf of stepping neatly to Stannis’ side, pretending nothing happened
• It all comes together with Cortnay’s passionate demand to know what happened to Brienne. Unlike Loras, Mathis, and Randyll, Brienne is a native Stormlander
• Her family is sworn to Storm’s End and House Baratheon; it makes political sense for her to be serving Stannis now that Renly is dead. If she is not here, Cortnay is arguing, then the clear consensus Bryce Caron is describing is a lie. It does not exist.
• Bryce and Guyard Morrigen argue that it was Brienne who killed Renly; that’s why she’s not here. Alester thinks it was Catelyn, but still gets in a misogynistic dig at Brienne
• Brienne was Renly’s truest servant, the shining star in his camp like Davos is in Stannis’ camp. And just as Stannis’ noble-born vassals reject Davos, Renly’s former lords scorn Brienne. She was genuinely loyal, and so out of place among these ambitious turncloaks
• Cortnay knows better: Brienne believed in Renly. She believes in devotion and love. So, too, does Cortnay Penrose; that’s why he’s putting it all on the line for Edric Storm
• Bryce and Guyard and Alester are telling themselves that there is a logic and ethos to their actions. This disgusts Cortnay. They don’t even have honesty of purpose. They can’t even authentically be their own selfish ambitious selves. They play at honor
• It turns out that for so many of the powerful people in Westeros, honor is a performance. It’s something you convince others you have, not something you actually possess
• If these lords rode up here and said “Look, Renly’s dead, and we don’t feel like losing everything, so King Stannis it is,” Cortnay would still resist them to his last breath, but I don’t think he would feel such blazing contempt for them. They’re so inauthentic!
• That inauthenticity is rooted in Renly’s death, which the turncloak lords are treating as a given, an unfortunate memory; for Cortnay, this is still very much an open case
• How dare these men swear oaths to him that they will keep Edric safe, that it was Brienne who killed Renly, when they failed to uphold their oaths to Renly? What good is their word after that failure on their parts? Why should he trust them on any subject?
• Now, again, I think Cortnay’s emotionally convincing arguments must be tempered with logistical realities. Bryce and Guyard could not possibly have saved Renly’s life
• But that’s not really his point, just like the question of whether or not Stannis is the rightful heir to Storm’s End isn’t really relevant to his argument
• It’s also hilarious imagining Stannis’ internal reaction to Bryce Caron telling everyone that Stannis was now heir to Storm’s End after Renly’s death.
• One of Stannis’ earliest complaints is that Robert gave Renly Storm’s End when it was his by rights.
• You start to see why Stannis dismisses them as “chattering magpies” later in this chapter. 
• They’re reinforcing his insecurities about whether Robert loved him or not; they’re in this fight, because they have to be.
• That’s their stated reasons anyhow, and I sympathize with Stannis inasmuch as he shares Cortnay’s disdain for them. 
• And why would he like them when Bryce Caron is here loudly proclaiming that they’re following Stannis now only because Renly died (who did it?)?
• Cortnay’s point is that it’s utterly fucking galling to see these men prancing around like their shit doesn’t stink, wearing the cloaks Renly gave them while supporting his killer
• As Cortnay says to Guyard, he considers them all to be less than men. They have sacrificed their humanity in the name of power: a pack of corrupt cowards and liars
• Stannis weighs in at this point with a line that exposes the fragility of his rise to power:
  • "The Lord of Light willed that my brother die for his treason. Who did the deed matters not."
• First of all, it’s highly unwise for Stannis to cite R’hllor’s will. Even those of his followers who have embraced the red god have only done so in a superficial fashion; instinctively, they all still refer to “the gods,” the Faith of the Seven in which they were raised
• As Cortnay points out, this religious conversion is just another fig leaf being used to coverup the base brutality of Renly’s murder. They are not here to debate theology!
• When Melisandre presses the point, asking the Lord of Light to bless Cortnay in his darkness and bring him to the one true god and one true king, Cortnay snaps back:
  • "May the Others bugger your Lord of Light and wipe his arse with that rag you bear."
• This is crucial. This shouldn’t be overlooked. Since the very beginning of this podcast, we’ve been talking about the white walkers as monsters on the margins
• Our knowledge that winter is coming infects our perspective on the more secular struggles. It doesn’t make them unimportant--far from it, as the outcome of the secular struggles will determine the response to the supernatural struggle
• But by starting with the Others before shifting to the war, George communicates that they are the most dire threat; the best outcome would be humanity uniting against them
• That’s not going to happen. How do I know that’s not going to happen? Because here we have Cortnay Penrose welcoming the Others if it means taking down Team Stannis
• I don’t think he would literally prefer the white walkers, but the point is that the human passions of the war have run so hot that he feels like he would prefer them
• I am confident that this is what George is trying to say, because he pulled the same trick with Theon and Benfred Tallhart back in Theon III:
  • "The Others bugger your wet god."
• Melisandre thinks of herself and her god as the solution to the Others. Summer defeats winter; fire melts ice. We have to win this piddling little war in order to win the great war
• But we see with Cortnay Penrose that Melisandre is sabotaging her own efforts. Everything she does to win the secular war makes her side weaker, not stronger, in face of the supernatural threat. She makes it harder, not easier, for everyone to unite as one
• What if the Others are actually the solution to R’hllor? Now again, I don’t think that’s literally true. That’s not gonna be a big twist at the end of the series
• But George is framing it that way here for a reason: to challenge our easy binary narratives along with Melisandre’s. What if neither fire nor ice is “good?”
• Or rather, what if it’s bad for either side to triumph completely? What is needed is balance, and that’s something that Melisandre refuses to accept
• Exactly. One theme of this chapter is extreme duality vs balance: Are you a good man, Ser Davos? Davos is kind to his wife but has known other women.
• The consuming fire of red R’hllor vs. the watery halls of the Drowned God vs the cold death that the Others brings about one result: DEATH.
• It’s like GRRM took that old schoolyard question: how would you rather die: burn to death, drown to death, freeze to death and gave these questions thematic weight into this chapter and Theon III.
• On a lesser ethereal level, I do think another way GRRM writes profanity in ASOIAF is fascinating.
• “The Others take you”/”The Others bugger your red god” is the ASOIAF equivalent of “Goddamn you”/”Go to hell.”
• In George’s world, these are every day curses that everyone hurls at each other, same as our world.
• But in a horrifying twist, there’s real meaning to the curses. The Others are coming to take you. 
• Imagine if saying “goddammit” or “Go to hell” resulted in God damning the things or person and sending someone to hell. That would be terrifying. And that’s the dynamic that GRRM wants us to keep in the back of our head when these curses are tossed around casually.  
• Even beyond the religious considerations, however, Stannis’ declaration that “who did the deed matters not” is politically untenable, revealing his own hypocrisy
• You cannot say that you are the one true king, the font of justice, the ultimate authority on who deserves to die and who doesn’t, and then say, eh, who cares who killed Renly
• If Stannis was to sincerely act on his stated beliefs, he would be more concerned than anyone with the question of who killed Renly, because that person is a traitor, too! 
• Whoever that person is, they took on Stannis’ powers and duties with no legal right to do so. They made themselves judge, jury, and executioner of Renly. That’s Stannis’ job
• I think you can really see how hypocritical Stannis is being in this scene if you compare his reaction to Renly’s death to his reaction to the Mad King’s death
• Robert makes this same “who did the deed matters not” argument regarding his predecessor: “Someone had to kill Aerys!” He doesn’t care that it was Jaime
• But Ned does, because even though Aerys murdered his father and brother, he believes that Jaime’s sword tainted Robert’s Rebellion, because Jaime was a Kingsguard
• Aerys might no longer have been the rightful king in Ned’s eyes, but Jaime had still sworn an oath to him, and broke that oath. Brienne feels the same way:
  • "Aerys was mad and cruel, no one has ever denied that. He was still king, crowned and anointed. And you had sworn to protect him."
• Now, of course, Ned and Brienne don’t know about the wildfire. They’re working with limited information. And with that same information, Stannis agrees with them
• After all, while Stannis rebelled against the Mad King, he still tells Davos in ASOS that Jaime should’ve been sent to the Wall. Why? Stannis clearly believed that Aerys had to go. Drawing from the same logic he uses here, why does it matter who killed him?
• As such, something has clearly changed about Stannis’ mindset. Somehow, Renly’s death is different from Aerys’ to him in such a way that “who did the deed matters not.”
• Why is that? Why does Stannis, for once in his life, decide not to judge the guilty? Because in this case, the guilty party is him. We’ll get more into this debate next week, but Stannis’ statement here is so incongruous with the rest of his beliefs that I can only interpret it as a desperate attempt to dodge his own culpability in Renly’s death
• Just like how his new lords are feigning belief in the Red God in order to fit in politically, Stannis is using R’hllor’s will as a fig leaf to avoiding dealing with his own will
• I certainly didn’t kill my brother and am now regretting it, no no! I didn’t set my heart on fire! God did that. I can externalize all my pain and confusion onto R’hllor
• Renly’s death was supposed to pave the way for Stannis’ iron justice. But in the wake of Renly’s death, he’s already abandoning that iron justice, lest it toll for him
• You are forcing, forcing me to be contrarian here. Forcing.
• I’m joking. These are great points. Bringing Stannis’ statement about what Robert should have done with Jaime is good analysis. I look forward to the AU we’ll unpack on our five-part series on ASOS, Davos IV about what Stannis would have done with Jaime had he known about the wildfire.
• So much of this chapter revolves around what someone knew and when did they know it as we’ll talk at substantive length next week.
• Stannis very clearly wants to move on from Renly’s death (who did it) as quickly as possible.
• There’s a part of me that does think that had Stannis owned Renly’s death, he might garner more reader sympathy here. Something along the lines of Samuel L. Jackson’s Yes, he deserved to die, and I hope he burns in Seven Hells from A Time to Kill.
• The issue is that he’s haunted by Renly’s death personally and knows he bears responsibility (how much responsibility? Tune in next week!) 
• The other issue is that if Stannis just straight up admitted that he had killed Renly for treason - even after giving him the chance to renounce his treason - he would have been accursed as a kinslayer.
• And really, which lord would want to associate with someone who breaks a societal taboo that all of Westeros holds sacred?
• Most of these jackanapes know they would share in the kinslaying dishonor if Stannis’ culpability was widely-known.
• And Stannis knows that they know. And he seems to know that they have to buy into the lie that it doesn’t matter who killed Renly, because they’d show themselves to be giving ascent to the greatest sin in Westeros: kinslaying.
• Again, as we uncovered at significant length in Catelyn III and IV, the hypocrisy of this taboo is that it didn’t extend to Renly commanding Stannis’ death.
• How many degrees of separation from swinging the sword (or shadow sword) does kinslaying become culturally appropriate?
• Now, you’re highlighting something else: that Stannis feels guilt over Renly’s death, and that’ll hang emotionally over him forever.
• For that matter, the justice or injustice of what Stannis and Melisandre did doesn’t exculpate him emotionally from the fact that he was there - at some level - when Renly … very sadly passed away.
• But in seriousness: the blood is ultimately on Stannis’ hands for, damn have been saying this a lot, rEaSoNs wE’lL uNpAcK next week.
• Like Cortnay, like Davos, Stannis eschews the self-indulgent trappings of wealth that define his new followers. I do think this makes him more likable than them…
• ...but there is still that one trapping of power he keeps. A crown, just like how Dany holds onto her new crown in Qarth when she gives up all other signifiers of wealth and power
• Stannis’ crown is made of red gold, with points shaped like flames. A fiery ladder from which he will fall, as he prophesies in ASOS, and Cortnay drags him down here and now
• Cortnay throws his glove in Stannis’ face and demands single combat. Put your money where your mouth is. Risk your sacred kingly body as you destroyed Renly’s
• Stannis’ turncloak lords are eager to duel Cortnay because they really really don’t like being called out on what selfish hypocrites they are, so they wanna kill him. What heroes
• Stannis refuses on logistical grounds. Why risk losing the castle on a single combat when if he attacks, his victory is certain? Why should he accept this offer?
• Well, for the same reason Cortnay should surrender: to save lives. To spare the lives of the other men inside those walls, who really had no say in any of this
• Both men have a responsibility to avoid an unnecessary battle, but Stannis is pretending like only Cortnay has that responsibility. He says that he will kill every man of them if they force him to take the castle by storm. But no one is forcing him to do anything!
• Just as Stannis dodges responsibility for Renly’s death by hiding behind the will of the Lord of Light, he dodges responsibility for all these potential deaths by blaming Cortnay
• Even if you are inclined to argue that Stannis needs to take Storm’s End lest his reputation suffer (as we’ll discuss more in later episodes), there is no cause that requires him to hang all these soldiers after defeating them in battle. That’s an atrocity!
• Cortnay leaves it all in the hands of the gods--plural, one more dig at the intolerant zealotry of Melisandre’s faith. He leaves the scene and story with one more great line:
  • "As the gods will it. Bring on your storm, my lord-and recall, if you do, the name of this castle."
• Sick burn! With one fell swoop, Cortnay has severed Stannis from his own backstory and his own family. He is an outsider, permanently. He is the storm, not the storm’s end
• He has turned on a version of himself holding the castle under siege. He has become the vengeful wind of the gods sweeping off the bay, as in Durran Godsgrief’s time
• He has set his heart on fire, alienating himself from his own family home, the cradle of his birth, even as he seeks to lay claim to it. Stannis’ victories turn to ash in his mouth
• Cortnay Penrose is wrong that Stannis’ storm will end here. Cortnay will be swept aside as Renly was. But just as Renly’s peach return in Stannis’ dreams, so too does Cortnay’s final line linger as a condemnation of how far Stannis has gone for his crown
• So...uh...remember Davos?! Our POV character for the chapter? We’ve barely talked about him at all! He’s not as prominent in this part of the chapter as he will be later
• As you all might know, I’ve been reviewing a lot of old George RR Martin interviews, and right around the time that ADWD was released, he said that he chooses POVs that won’t simply be a camera for a scene but have their own will, viewpoint and add something to the chapters they point-of-view.
• Davos spends the first third of this chapter almost as a camera for the action, but there’s an in-universe reason he’s here beyond camera’ing the exchange.
• As Davos relates later in the chapter, he visited Cortnay Penrose’s father and was received more kindly than most of the other lords he encountered.
• So, that’s part of why Stannis brought Davos along -- hey, bring along someone that Cortnay might like. His dad liked him anyhow.
• But the bigger reason why Davos is here is he’s another example of Stannis’ “mercy” in that Stannis elevated him to knighthood in exchange for saving him and his garrison at Storm’s End … and took off half of his fingers for the smuggling.
• As we’ve said before, Davos doesn’t really become a fully fledged psychology on the page in his own right until ASOS. In this scene, he’s serving a similar role to Cortnay Penrose: bringing Stannis’ internal conflicts to the surface by standing in for them
• Davos’ absence since Dragonstone, the fact that we’re over halfway through ACOK before he gets a second chapter, in part reflects this sketchy-so-far characterization
• But it also reflects how, in both books and show, Stannis feels the need to send Davos away when he’s considering something he knows Davos would not approve of
• Davos’ status as Stannis’ conscience is not just a literary conceit. It’s something that Stannis is clearly aware of, and so he relies on Davos when he’s trying to do the right thing, and he ignores Davos when he’s tempted into doing the wrong thing
• So while Davos was out spreading the truth, bringing the word of Stannis’ claim to his fellow smallfolk, Stannis was here, committing himself to fraternal conflict, intolerant religion, and a swarm of turncloak lords who rejected him when he needed them
• Under the surface of Davos’ mindset in this chapter is an awareness that he came too late to prevent Stannis from selling his soul. All he can do is pick up the pieces
• He will try and do so in our next episode; in this chunk of the chapter, he mostly just feels out of place, wondering why it is that the king wanted him here at all
• As we said in our episodes on Davos I with our buddy Frank, Davos perpetually feels out of context, knowing that he doesn’t belong with all these rich well-spoken lords
• Davos’ alienation should not be mistaken for apathy. He has been trying to get an audience with Stannis ever since he turned up at Storm’s End, but has been denied
• Again, I think this is clearly because Stannis knows Davos would reject the decisions Stannis has made and will go on making, and Stannis knows at some level he’s right
• Instead, Stannis has invested his intimacy with Melisandre. Davos learns this from his son Devan, one of the king’s squires, who wears the fiery heart proudly over his own
• Because of that sigil, Davos dare not share his doubts with his own son. Such are the wages of intolerant faith: the family unit is set against itself, as with Stannis v. Reny
• Davos fears his own son would turn him in to Melisandre, as children under despotic regimes in our own history have been encouraged to turn in their parents 
• Yet even as the political power of R’hllor in Westeros is established, Devan’s report to his father hints at the weaknesses, those thin wages that rob them of true victory
• Stannis has been afflicted with terrible nightmares since Renly died. Now, as first-time readers, the only information we have to work with is that Catelyn felt Stannis’ presence
• We don’t know anything about the mechanisms of the shadow-assassins. We don’t know about Melisandre’s involvement. We don’t know how aware of it Stannis actually was
• But these nightmares are another clue to Stannis’ guilt. Despite gaining his army at last, he cannot be at peace. Maester’s potions, the tools of Cressen’s world, cannot help
• Stannis has committed himself to sorcery, so the secular world is no relief. Only Melisandre can soothe him...though the manner by which she does so is ambiguous
• For the first-time reader, this is the first time the question of whether Stannis is sleeping with Melisandre has been broached. It is important setup for the reveal that the shadows not only are Stannis at some level, but at another level, they are also his children
• This skin-crawling intimation of mystery and torment, as well as the possibility that Stannis is committing adultery, is designed to reduce reader sympathy for Stannis
• Davos, our POV, is trying to hold onto his loyalty to Stannis in the face of these warning signs. It’s hard for him to do so, in large part because of his king’s new followers
• When Cortnay calls them all out as ambitious turncloaks with no loyalty to anything save themselves, Davos internally agrees--but from the perspective of a Stannis loyalist
• Cortnay rejects these men because they used to be pro-Renly. Davos rejects them because they used to be anti-Stannis. A fine distinction, perhaps, but an important one
• Davos can’t help but imagine these men in Renly’s tent making plans to bring Stannis down. It’s not just that they refused his call--it’s that they were prepared to destroy him
• So Cortnay and Davos, despite being on opposite sides of the war, share the partisan’s disdain for the fair-weather follower with no true loyalty to either side
• This is why Cortnay calls out respectfully to the onion knight (“well met, Ser Davos”), and as we’ll get into next week, this is why Davos respects Cortnay more than the rest
• The doubt Davos is experiencing is a shadow of the doubt Stannis is experiencing, and so Stannis will call Davos forth to act as his conscience...next time on the notacast!

Foreshadowing/Groundwork

George loved this scene so much he basically rewrote it in AFFC between Jaime and the Blackfish at Riverrun. Siege in the wake of a murdered king, the noose around a hostage’s neck (proposed here, carried out at Riverrun), intense hostility from the besieged commander, whose heroism is checked by the uselessness of his defiance.

Theory/Discussion

Cortnay Penrose: hero or villain?

Conclusion

• Thanks for listening!
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  • Lord of the Squishers and Warden of the Deep
  • Lady of a Thousand Words
  • Septon Eastwood of Introvert Isle
  • Septon Merrybald, the Shoeless Sage
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  • Sandie the Dragon, Blood of Queen Daenerys & Lady of Jameson
  • Lady Britt, Bastard Mistress of Harrenhal
  • Ser Thomas the Raven Knight, Lord of Blackwood 
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  • Ser Way of Course
  • Matt, Warden of the Sanguine Shore
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  • Lord Sam K
  • Ser Michael Mertyns
  • Wisdom Benjicot, Alchemist of Sets and Quanta, Mage of the Arts of Boole and DeMorgan
  • Tibs the Great of House Catnapping
  • Lord J Manderly, Baker of the Frey Pies
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  • Lady Silverwing
  • Joe Snow “King of the Metro North and protector of the Tri-State”
  • Kaboth the Unfrozen, Lord of the Bricks and Castle Crimson Light
• Join us next week for Part 2 of ACOK Davos II, in which Stannis and Davos engage in a philosophical debate about where power comes from and what to do with it.