Season 6 General Speculation v9

Mar 22, 2016 17:35:39 GMT janicia said:

Mar 22, 2016 15:56:26 GMT @moiaf said:

This is a nice list, just wanted to note that there are great number of parallels in the books, more than in the show between Dany and Jon.

I'm getting rusty on the books.  But what I meant was, in the show, Jon and Dany each only do about 20 things a season.   But Jon and Dany each do a hundred things in a book; the percent of what they do that parallels is lower, even if the total number of parallels is higher.  The theme of Jon and Dany growing up and surviving challenges in parallel is given more emphasis in the show because the show isn't pursuing as many themes at the same time as the books are.  

Lists like that can also be deceptive because they ignore all the stuff that doesn't match the pattern.  Jon had nothing like Dany's conquests of the slave cities unless you count surviving his breakup with Ygritte as equivalent to conquering a city.  Jon and Dany also have some noticibly different relationships - Dany had nobody like Thorne or Olly in her life, Jon had nobody like Dario.  Tormund and Greyworm are not obvious analogues.  I drew a parallel between Sam and Missandei, but Jon always treated Sam as an equal which is definitely not the dynamic between Dany and Missandei. An even stronger division is that Dany has spent the whole series as a foreigner, particularly in Mereen, while Jon is on home turf at the Night's Watch - he understands and respects the people around him in a way that Dany just doesn't.  And Jon fits into established power structures comfortably - he's a bit young and people rib him for being pretty, but he makes sense as a leader to them - either on the Wall or as a Stark in the north.  Dany breaks the mold of leadership everywhere she goes in Essos.  So clearly GRRM is playing around with both parallels and contrasts in these characters, as well as other plot stuff.  

• Both of their mother's were hidden during pregnancy (Lyanna at the Tower of Joy and Rhaella at Dragonston).
• Both of their mother's died during childbirth.
  
• Both are whisked away as infants, Ned took Jon and Ser Darry took Dany, in order to save both of their lives.
  
• The lost of their mother/family affected them both greatly while growing up.
  
• Both grew up as outsider's, never really fitting in. Jon because he was a bastard and Dany because she had no home
• They both have very strong identity arcs, Dany looks to define herself (khaleesi, mother of dragons, Mhysa, dragon queen, etc). Jon look's to redefine his identity as a bastard. Their identity plays a huge part in both their arcs.
• They both seek to honor those who came before them, Dany wants to uphold her family name and Jon want to live up to his father's name.
  
• Ironically, as they both seek to honor their ancestors they are also changing their families legacy. Dany is seeking to end slavery while Jon welcomes the Wildlings back into the Westeros fold. When in the past it was the Valyrians who enslaved and it is presumed it was the Starks who trapped the Wildings beyond the Wall.
  
• They both fall in love with "barbarians", Dany with Drogo and Jon with Ygritte. Both of these relationship are life chaining, they were not the same people by the end. Sadly, they were both indirectly responsible for the deaths of said lovers. 
  
• On that note they have both sacrifice love over duty.  
• They entire ADWD arcs are about learning to lead, and neither ends up in a good place by the end.
  

These are some of the general parallels that they share, however, there are much more. Some of them are more obscure but if you pay really close attention you can see them. But their general character arc in the book, like in the series, is about finding who they are and using that to become leaders. I think people have noticed it more in the series because as you say there isn't so much clutter, it's more obviously apparent. However, for me and others we find the parallels in the books stronger and more meaningful because of the depth of them.