ADWD 15 Davos II

Queen Selyse had feasted Salla and his captains, the night before the fleet had set sail. Cotter Pyke had joined them, and four other high officers of the Night’s Watch. Princess Shireen had been allowed to attend as well. As the salmon was being served, Ser Axell Florent had entertained the table with the tale of a Targaryen princeling who kept an ape as a pet. This prince liked to dress the creature in his dead son’s clothes and pretend he was a child, Ser Axell claimed, and from time to time he would propose marriages for him. The lords so honored always declined politely, but of course they did decline. “Even dressed in silk and velvet, an ape remains an ape,” Ser Axell said. “A wiser prince would have known that you cannot send an ape to do a man’s work.” The queen’s men laughed, and several grinned at Davos. I am no ape, he’d thought. I am as much a lord as you, and a better man. But the memory still stung. (ADWD Davos II)

I think the metatext of this passage is that it’s an example of a character, in this case Axell Florent, interpreting a story wrong. And it’s funny because it’s his own story. More specifically and I think importantly, it’s showing the way he’s interpreting the story wrong.

Axell’s last comment frames the situation as though the ape is being sent to do a man’s work. But that interpretation reveals that Axell hasn’t adequately put himself in the mind of the Targaryen prince. To the prince, the ape is his son rather than an ape. And the prince is not trying to send the ape to do work (marriage / sex), rather, the prince is trying to attract human women to marry his son. Then Axell’s audience / the reader / Davos are able to translate “son” back to “ape”, because we aren’t delusional like the prince.

So the first part of Axell’s interpretation is perfect, and the second part is contrived, apparently for the purpose of insulting Davos, who, unlike the ape, was actually “sent” by Stannis to do a “man’s work” (find allies for Stannis).

In the process of looking closely at Axell’s interpretation of a story, we’re able to identify the motivation and impulses within Axell that are driving his interpretation.

Perhaps a metatext of this passage is that it directs the reader to do a better job of putting himself into the mind and situation of the characters in the story.

Perhaps another metatext is that the passage directs the reader to look closely at the interpretations he himself and the other readers make of the story, with a mind to sussing out the reader’s underlying motivations and impulses that are driving the interpretation.

Created Nov 24, 2022

Young Griff

Some secret princes restore the kingdom by fostering the good, and others are the sour fruit of uncareful wishes.

Created Sep 2, 2022

Chapter Titles in AFFC & ADWD P2

(work in progress. I may fill out more chapters a little bit over time. I probably won’t get back to this any time soon but here it is FWIW and if you like it feel welcome to pick up where I left off. I’m still excited to write it but I have more important ASOIAF things to write that take priority for now.)

Chapter Titles in AFFC & ADWD P1

In part one, I came to the conclusion that the unconventional chapter titles in AFFC and ADWD are written from the point-of-view of the smallfolk, commoners, and othered categories of people in the story. The poor, usually.

Now I want to put that idea to the test, and try to make that category of people more specific.

At a glance, it seems to me that the defining characteristic that unites the category of characters whose voices are in the chapter titles is that the characters are non-POV characters whose perspectives the reader has overlooked, disregarded or discredited in one way or another.

Granted, each individual reader’s list of overlooked non-POV characters will be unique, because the story is big and people are different. So one part of my hypothesis is that, despite those things, the lists of overlooked non-POV characters will be mostly the same for most readers. We all probably ignored the old woman servant in Illyrio’s manse to approximately the same extent, for example. She’s barely mentioned.

The main part of my hypothesis is that the bolded description above will work as the defining characteristic that conceptually unifies the category of people whose voices are in the chapter titles. In precise terms, my hypotheiss is that the voices of the non-conventional chapter titles will always be those of non-POV characters whose perspectives the reader has overlooked, disregarded or discredited, and that those perspectives contain insights into the POV characters’ dilemmas that were missing from our interpretations of the POV characters and their dilemmas.

The following interrogation of the story requires the reader to be honest with himself about how much attention he has given to the non-POV characters in question before having become aware of the story’s indictment of the reader’s neglect of non-POV characters. In my personal experience with the story, I’ve watched my own opinions of many characters and events change dramatically in the few years since I became aware that the story is thematically displeased with my inattention to non-POV characters, so I will have to do some work to stay honest with myself in that regard too.

Now I’ll go through each unconventional chapter title individually to see if the idea holds up, and, if so, how. I’m hoping this process will help me further specify the core unifying characteristic across all the voices in the chapter titles.

There are 12 out of 46 (26%) unconventional chapter titles in AFFC, and there are 23 out of 73 (31.5%) unconventional chapter titles in ADWD. So in total, I’ll examine all 35 unconventional chapter titles. Oh boy. I better get started. In the words of Hot Pie, “Hot Pie!”

AFFC 1 The Prophet (Aeron I)

This one’s easy. The commoners of the Iron Islands believe in the Drowned God. Aeron is a priest of the Drowned God, so they venerate him for his wisdom, they rely on him to perform Drowned God rituals and rites, and they consider him a prophet. So if this chapter title is in the minds of the commoners, it’s no wonder why the commoners think of Aeron as The Prophet rather than Aeron. They think of him as The Prophet in the same way we might think of a religious leader as Pastor, Reverend or Preacher rather than his first name.

If this chapter title is standing in criticism of my tendency to overlook or underestimate the points-of-view of the commoners of the Iron Islands, then the implication seems to be that my interpretations of characters or events related to the commoners on the Iron Islands probably haven’t lent enough seriousness and weight to the reality that the commoners hold Aeron in high regard, that they’re serious about their Drowned God beliefs, or things of a similar sort.

It occurs to me that Theon experienced the same sort of reality check the first time he met Aeron. Theon felt that Aeron was insolent and lacking a certain amount of respect and fear for him, Theon being the son and heir of Lord Balon.

AFFC 2 The Captain of Guards (Areo I)

AFFC 11 The Kraken’s Daughter (Asha I)

AFFC 13 The Soiled Knight (Arys I)

AFFC 18 The Iron Captain (Victarion I)

AFFC 19 The Drowned Man (Aeron II)

AFFC 21 The Queenmaker (Arianne I)

AFFC 23 Alayne I (Sansa I)

AFFC 29 The Reaver (Victarion II)

AFFC 34 Cat Of The Canals (Arya III)

AFFC 40 The Princess In The Tower (Arianne II)

Arianne is “The Princess In The Tower” because, in the minds of the smallfolk, Arianne is relevant in their lives as a figure of House Martell, rather than as a person with whom they might interact on a first-name basis. She’s a daughter of the ruling family who lives a life of luxury so unattainable to them that any three of the books in her tower prison are probably worth more coin than everything a typical smallfolk family owns combined. ‘Psst, you should probably read some of those books, Princess.’

AFFC 41 Alayne II (Sansa II)

ADWD 6 The Merchant’s Man (Quentyn I)

ADWD 12 Reek I (Theon I)

ADWD 20 Reek II (Theon II)

ADWD 24 The Lost Lord (Jon Connington I)

The men of the Golden Company were outside their tents, dicing, drinking, and swatting away flies. Griff wondered how many of them knew who he was. Few enough. Twelve years is a long time. Even the men who’d ridden with him might not recognize the exile lord Jon Connington of the fiery red beard in the lined, clean-shaved face and dyed blue hair of the sellsword Griff. So far as most of them were concerned, Connington had drunk himself to death in Lys after being driven from the company in disgrace for stealing from the war chest. The shame of the lie still stuck in his craw, but Varys had insisted it was necessary. “We want no songs about the gallant exile,” the eunuch had tittered, in that mincing voice of his. “Those who die heroic deaths are long remembered, thieves and drunks and cravens soon forgotten.”

ADWD 25 The Windblown (Quentyn II)

ADWD 26 The Wayward Bride (Asha I)

ADWD 32 Reek III (Theon III)

ADWD 37 The Prince of Winterfell (Theon IV)

ADWD 38 The Watcher (Areo I)

I began re-reading The Watcher chapter, keeping an eye out for commoner type of characters and their opportunity or lackthereof to witness Areo “watching”, as the chapter title would suggest. Here are the first two paragraphs of The Watcher.

Let us look upon this head,” his prince commanded.

Areo Hotah ran his hand along the smooth shaft of his longaxe, his ash-and-iron wife, all the while watching. He watched the white knight, Ser Balon Swann, and the others who had come with him. He watched the Sand Snakes, each at a different table. He watched the lords and ladies, the serving men, the old blind seneschal, and the young maester Myles, with his silky beard and servile smile. Standing half in light and half in shadow, he saw all of them. Serve. Protect. Obey. That was his task. (ADWD The Watcher)

Did a character in the scene, or category of characters, come to the foreground?

ADWD 41 The Turncloak (Theon V)

ADWD 42 The King’s Prize (Asha II)

ADWD 45 The Blind Girl (Arya I)

ADWD 46 A Ghost In Winterfell (Theon VI)

ADWD 55 The Queensguard (Barristan I)

ADWD 56 The Iron Suitor (Victarion I)

ADWD 59 The Discarded Knight (Barristan II)

ADWD 60 The Spurned Suitor (Quentyn III)

ADWD 61 The Griffon Reborn (Jon Connington II)

The last that the common people of Westeros (and probably most of the noble people too for that matter) have heard of Jon Connington, he lost the Battle of the Bells about two decades ago and disappeared across the Narrow Sea into exile. In ADWD when Jon lands on the shores of Westeros and the word begins to spread, how are the commoners of Westeros going to think about it?

As I saw in the chapter ADWD 24 The Lost Lord, Jon thinks most of the people who knew him in the Golden Company will have presumed him dead after twelve years gone. Surely the commoners of Westeros will have presumed Jon dead, too, after seventeen or more years gone. It’s no wonder, then, that Jon’s return is perceived by Westerosi commoners as a rebirth. They thought he was dead, but now he’s alive.

And they think of him as The Griffin because, in the minds of the commoners, the noble people belong to a category comparable to that occupied in our own minds by the rich and powerful leaders in our own world. If I meet a celebrity like George R.R. Martin or a political leader, I’m liable to ask for an autograph, a picture and to tell the story of the meeting to my friends for days or years to come. I can imagine that a member of House Connington is looked upon in a similarly mythologized way by the commoners of Westeros, particularly in the stormlands where House Connington’s castle Griffin’s Roost is seated.

ADWD 62 The Sacrifice (Asha III)

ADWD 64 The Ugly Little Girl (Arya II)

ADWD 67 The Kingbreaker (Barristan III)

The Kingbreaker is the chapter that I think most strongly gives away the identity of the voice of the chapter titles. Because the first thing I think when I read this chapter title is:

‘Who the hell could this be? Maybe it’s Jaime Lannister.’

It’s a reasonable thing to think, considering that Jaime Lannister is known as The Kingslayer, and Kingslayer is the closest thing to Kingbreaker that I’ve seen in the story. After I realize the POV character is Barristan, the next thing I think is:

‘How the heck is Barristan a Kingbreaker? Who is the king? Did Barristan kill Tommen?’

After I read the chapter, I’m able to see that the titular king is Hizdhar. But up until now, I haven’t thought of Hizdhar as a king at all. I’ve thought of him as the pampered Meereen noble who Dany unfortunately had to marry. So the title forces me to recognize that, yes, as a matter of fact, Hizdhar is a King. Since Dany is the Queen, and Dany married Hizdhar, then Hizdhar must be the King.

Although “King” is far from the role Hizdhar has occupied in my mind so far, this chapter title forces upon me a recognition that King is precisely the role that Hizdhar occupies in the minds of most of the Meereenese people.

Characters such as Reznak mo Reznak, the Green Grace and Hizdahr himself petitioned for a long time that Daenerys should marry a Meereenese noble.

A very limber man was Hizdahr zo Loraq.

He might be handsome, but for that silly hair. Reznak and the Green Grace had been urging Dany to take a Meereenese noble for her husband, to reconcile the city to her rule. Hizdahr zo Loraq might be worth a careful look. (ADWD Daenerys )

The Meereenese people, former slaves and masters alike all want a leader who shares a heritage and culture with them, so that Meereenese perspectives, attitudes, customs and culture won’t be so harshly ignored in the new system of values and governance that Dany is forcing upon them. For example, the fighting pits are one part of Meereenese culture that Dany wants to abolish.

“Old arguments,” Hizdahr admitted, “new words. Lovely words, and courteous, more apt to move a queen.”

“It is your cause I find wanting, not your courtesies. I have heard your arguments so often I could plead your case myself. Shall I?” Dany leaned forward. “The fighting pits have been a part of Meereen since the city was founded. The combats are profoundly religious in nature, a blood sacrifice to the gods of Ghis. The mortal art of Ghis is not mere butchery but a display of courage, skill, and strength most pleasing to your gods.

“Victorious fighters are pampered and acclaimed, and the slain are honored and remembered. By reopening the pits I would show the people of Meereen that I respect their ways and customs.” (ADWD Daenerys I)

Dany sardonically recites Hizdhar’s own arguments at him, demonstrating the very disrespect and disregard for Meereen’s culture that its people fear.

Though he dealt harshly with rebels and traitors, he was open-handed with former foes who bent the knee. (TWOIAF)

“Yield now,” Aegon began, “and you may remain as Lord of the Iron Islands. Yield now, and your sons will live to rule after you. I have eight thousand men outside your walls.” (TWOIAF)

Having taken a dozen castles and secured the mouth of the Blackwater Rush on both sides of the river, he commanded the lords he had defeated to attend him. There they laid their swords at his feet, and Aegon raised them up and confirmed them in their lands and titles. (TWOIAF)

ADWD 68 The Dragontamer (Quentyn IV)

ADWD 70 The Queen’s Hand (Barristan IV)

Created Aug 9, 2022 – WIP, AFFC 1 40 ADWD 24 38 61 67

Chapter Titles in AFFC & ADWD

In AFFC and ADWD, George R.R. Martin gets creative with many of the chapter titles.

For example, Aeron Greyjoy’s first chapter is not entitled “Aeron” like we have come to expect from the series. Aeron’s first chapter is “The Prophet.” Similarly, Areo Hotah’s first chapter is “The Captain of Guards” rather than “Areo.” Some of Sansa’s chapters are “Alayne,” some of Theon’s chapters are “Reek,” and Arianne’s second chapter in AFFC entitled “The Princess In The Tower” takes the prize for the longest chapter title in the series so far, with a character count of twenty-five!

When Martin was asked about these new colorful chapter titles, he responded that he has a method to his madness.

I asked whether he would comment on his choice to call these chapters “Ser Barristan” instead of continuing with the titles from ADWD, and he replied that he has “a method to his madness” for promoting characters with descriptors to named characters but that he didn’t want to say more. (SSM Feb 17, 2013)

To my ears, it sounds like a challenge! I love a good mystery, and I want to figure it out before he finishes writing.

So today I was thinking hard about it. I do my best thinking by writing out my thoughts and organizing them. And I’m happy to announce that I think I figured out what Martin is doing with the unconventional chapter titles!

In fact, I’m so confident that I’m correct that it would feel wrong to tell it right away. So instead I’m going to do what I normally do with discoveries I’m confident about and try to recreate the investigative journey that led me to my conclusion, so that anybody reading this can experience the fun of the journey, too.

First, I went to various message boards and read what everybody else was saying about it. Impressive right? Why should I do the work if somebody else has done it already?

Joking aside, I find that reading what everybody else is saying (or has said) is a great way to start any investigation into the story. It gives me a relatively quick and thorough map of the major branches of ideas that are available to explore. It also gives me a sense of which idea branches are likely to have already been explored to no avail, and inversely (and perhaps more to the point) a sense of which idea branches have not.

Here are some of the things other readers have said about the descriptive chapter titles. (Paraphrased)

“It’s annoying.”
“It’s confusing.”
“I like it.”
“Martin got bored and wanted to spice things up a little.”
“Martin had to do it because Jon Connington would’ve broken the convention because a Jon POV already exists.”
“The titles reflect identity change in the POV.”
“Martin does it to obscure the POV’s identity so that it’s a surprise in the chapter.”
“Martin does it to obscure more significant identity changes in the future.”
“The titles are remnants of a Greyjoy prologue that went too long then was scrapped and salvaged.”
“The titles are allusions and homages to other works of literature.”
“The titles are in-story future song titles about the POV characters.”
“The titles reflect the fact that the whole story is being seen through the eyes of Bran or Bloodraven.”

There are a lot of interesting ideas there, and some of them do a good job of explaining some of the chapter titles. For example, here’s a reported comment by Martin verifying the Identity Change idea.

“Likewise, he mentioned that the titles of the chapters in AFfC were a nod to how the characters think of themselves – most especially Sansa.” (SSM Feb 2006)

And here’s a reported comment by Martin describing his work on AFFC that seems to verify the Greyjoy Prologue idea.

Someone asked about the titles of sample chapters that have been posted online in relation to POVs. The person asking the question used the examples [NOTE: Redacted spoiler POV name] and “The Prophet” (Prophetess? — I missed this chapter). From what I understand, the prologue has grown so much that instead of just one chapter, there are several; instead of being titled with a character name, they have titles such as “The Soiled Knight”, etc. It sounds like there are a lot of different viewpoint characters in the prologue. Arianne was specifically mentioned as such a viewpoint. (SSM May 2005)

The problem is that none of these ideas do a good job of explaining all of the chapter titles. So if what Martin is doing with the chapter titles is as premeditated as his more recent “method to my madness” comment suggests, then I won’t settle for an explanation of the chapter titles that does less than a fantastic job of explaining every single one of them.

So I made a list of all the unconventional chapter titles. Here’s the list.

AFFC 1 The Prophet (Aeron I)
AFFC 2 The Captain of Guards (Areo I)
AFFC 11 The Kraken’s Daughter (Asha I)
AFFC 13 The Soiled Knight (Arys I)
AFFC 18 The Iron Captain (Victarion I)
AFFC 19 The Drowned Man (Aeron II)
AFFC 21 The Queenmaker (Arianne I)
AFFC 23 Alayne I (Sansa I)
AFFC 29 The Reaver (Victarion II)
AFFC 34 Cat Of The Canals (Arya III)
AFFC 40 The Princess In The Tower (Arianne II)
AFFC 41 Alayne II (Sansa II)

ADWD 6 The Merchant’s Man (Quentyn I)
ADWD 12 Reek I (Theon I)
ADWD 20 Reek II (Theon II)
ADWD 24 The Lost Lord (Jon Connington I)
ADWD 25 The Windblown (Quentyn II)
ADWD 26 The Wayward Bride (Asha I)
ADWD 32 Reek III (Theon III)
ADWD 37 The Prince of Winterfell (Theon IV)
ADWD 38 The Watcher (Areo I)
ADWD 41 The Turncloak (Theon V)
ADWD 42 The King’s Prize (Asha II)
ADWD 45 The Blind Girl (Arya I)
ADWD 46 A Ghost In Winterfell (Theon VI)
ADWD 55 The Queensguard (Barristan I)
ADWD 56 The Iron Suitor (Victarion I)
ADWD 59 The Discarded Knight (Barristan II)
ADWD 60 The Spurned Suitor (Quentyn III)
ADWD 61 The Griffon Reborn (Jon Connington II)
ADWD 62 The Sacrifice (Asha III)
ADWD 64 The Ugly Little Girl (Arya II)
ADWD 67 The Kingbreaker (Barristan III)
ADWD 68 The Dragontamer (Quentyn IV)
ADWD 70 The Queen’s Hand (Barristan IV)

It can be argued that all of Bran’s chapters break the convention, because Bran’s full first name is Brandon. But I think Bran is obviously an exception because everybody in the story calls him Bran almost every time.

Now that I have the full list, I can see where some of the ideas came from.

Other Works of Literature – The Princess in the Tower seems like a chapter title that might be an homage to other works of literature. A princess or maiden trapped in a tower is a common trope that comes up in classic stories like Rapunzel. It comes up four or five times in ASOIAF.

Identity Change – Reek, Alayne and The Blind Girl are a few chapter titles that reflect identity change in the POV character.

Spice Things Up – The idea that Martin simply wanted to spice up the chapter titles could explain all of the chapter titles on the list. But the spice explanation doesn’t do a good job of explaining why Martin was secretive or deliberate about his reasons for breaking the chapter title convention.

Seeing Through The Eyes – The ‘Seeing Through The Eyes of Bran or Bloodraven’ idea seems too extreme to be true. I don’t suppose it would hold up to scrutiny for long if I were to put it to the test. And if that’s really what is going on, it’s hard to imagine how it could be done in a way that isn’t so absurdly cheap and corny that it ruins the story. And I think Martin is a better writer than that, so the quality of the story discredits this possibility, in my opinion.

However, there’s something about the ‘Seeing Through The Eyes’ idea that really strikes a chord with me, and I think with A Song of Ice and Fire, too. The whole series from beginning-to-end (barring one or two odd exceptions) is written in a POV style! A big challenge with interpreting this story is remembering that simple fact. Every bit of information presented in the story is presented in the way the POV character perceives it, with all his biases, attitudes, prejudices and misunderstandings intact.

The important word in the previous sentence is “every.”

It evokes the question: What if these new dramatic chapter titles, like all the other text in the story, are filtered through the lens of a character’s POV? If that were the case, it would match with the story’s strict adherence to a POV style in a way that is completely surprising yet completely unsurprising in retrospect, considering that all of the other text in the story is filtered through somebody’s POV. In other words, it would be awesome.

That leads me to the ‘Identity Change’ idea. I think the idea that the titles reflect identity change in the POV character is the strongest idea so far. It only explains a handful of the titles, but it explains them in such a symbolic and meaningful way that the symbolism and the meaningfulness seem to validate the idea better than all the others.

Then I combine the ‘Identity Change’ idea and the “Seeing Through the Eyes’ idea, and the next thing I wonder is… What if all of these chapter titles are being delivered to us through one consistent POV, but it is not the same POV character of the chapter?

Then who else could it be?

So I return to the chapter list to read through it carefully while I consider this question: From which character’s POV does every single chapter title make sense?

There is only one answer that works for all of them. Now is the time to stop reading if you want to think about it for yourself. I’ll give you two hints.

The first hint is that it isn’t one character. It’s a category of characters.

Can you get the answer now?

The second hint is this conversation between Jon Snow and Benjen Stark:

“Daeron Targaryen was only fourteen when he conquered Dorne,” Jon said. The Young Dragon was one of his heroes.

“A conquest that lasted a summer,” his uncle pointed out. “Your Boy King lost ten thousand men taking the place, and another fifty trying to hold it. Someone should have told him that war isn’t a game.” He took another sip of wine. “Also,” he said, wiping his mouth, “Daeron Targaryen was only eighteen when he died. Or have you forgotten that part?”

“I forget nothing,” Jon boasted. (AGOT Jon I)

Can you work out the answer now?

The answer is…

…

The smallfolk.
The commoners.
The nobodies.
Each and every one of the sixty-thousand unnamed people who died in The Young Dragon’s failed conquest of Dorne.

Every unconventional chapter title is from the POV of the regular everyday people of the story.

Arya is “Cat Of The Canals” because the commoners of Braavos don’t know Cat’s true identity.

Jon Connington is “The Lost Lord” because, in the minds of the smallfolk, one Lord is hardly different from another. To the smallfolk, all Lords belong in the category of ‘rich and powerful people you simply must obey.’ Jon Connington is a “Lost” Lord to the smallfolk because it’s common knowledge that he disappeared from the public eye after he was sent into exile.

Asha is “The King’s Prize” because it describes the most important things that the smallfolk, soldiers, black brothers and other ordinary people need to know about the situation. ‘Don’t get caught referring to anyone but Stannis as the King or you could lose your tongue. And keep your hands off the Greyjoy girl because she’s important to the King for some reason.’

Sansa is “Alayne” because the smallfolk and ordinary people don’t know that she’s really Sansa, and any of the ones who do know wouldn’t dare expose Littlefinger’s secret by referring to her as Sansa, for fear of the repercussions.

Theon is “Reek” because the smallfolk around the Dreadfort wouldn’t risk Ramsay’s anger by not referring to Theon using the humiliating name Ramsay gave him.

Barristan is “The Kingbreaker” because, to the smallfolk of Meereen, Hidzahr was their King. And it’s no secret that they preferred their King to their Queen. The title seems oddly judgemental of Barristan’s decision to seize Hizdahr, and the reason it seems odd is because the title isn’t from Barristan’s point-of-view. It’s from the Meereen commoner’s point-of-view.

With this interpretation, I predict that, as the story continues, the pseudonyms and descriptors in the chapter titles will increasingly rub against the grain of the reader’s moral judgements of characters and events. In doing so, the story draws attention to a widening fault line between the reader’s judgement and the smallfolk’s reality.

Even at the beginning of the story’s ending, in ADWD, I notice readers struggling with the fault line that exists between their judgement and the chapter titles. In BryndenBFish’s essays on the chapter titles, for example, the mismatch between his judgement of Daenerys and Qyentyn’s chapter title “The Spurned Suitor” is brought to the foreground in the way that any appreciation for the points-of-view of Quentyn and the smallfolk, how they’re likely to receive the news of Dany’s behavior in the meeting, is ignored and invalidated.

Besides, Dany spurned him, didn’t she?

Well, no! Dany rejected Quentyn, yes. (For absolutely defensive and correct reasons I might add). But spurn him? Reject with disdain or contempt? Absolutely not! She laughed at the frog joke, but she didn’t reject him disdainfully or contemptuously. She let him down as easy as she could, even offering alliance with Dorne when she came to Westeros. (The Methods of Madness: POV Pseudonyms, Part 1: The Prince of Dorne)

The smallfolk are the non-POV characters who nevertheless inhabit every chapter, most often existing in the background as nameless and numbered footmen, handmaids or oarsmen who serve the POV nobility, and who usually just want to get on with their lives and get back to their families in one piece after the Starks, Lannisters, Baratheons and Targaryens are finished with them.

I think this chapter title trend is one of A Song of Ice and Fire’s ways of indicting the reader’s bias toward the ruling, noble, powerful, affluent and elite classes of characters. As the fault line widens between the reader’s judgement and the smallfolk’s reality, the story demonstrates its thematic alliance with the smallfolk and its thematic opposition to the reader by continuing to permit the voice of the smallfolk to leak out through the chapter titles in the form of descriptions of characters and events that contradict the reader’s interpretations of those same characters and events.

In light of the story’s shocking conclusions, the reader may wonder how his expectations could have been so wrong. We may curse the story and the author for ruining the ending, but no curse will change the words in the books. All the words in the books right down to the chapter titles themselves will point to the identity of the story’s most important and neglected POV, with titles like “The Kingbreaker” and perhaps “The Mad Queen” broadcasting the collective and unheard voices of the servant, baseborn, powerless, poor, common and othered classes of people who are among the countless souls the reader neglected to take into his calculations due to his quiet adoption of the attitude that the points-of-view of non-POV characters don’t really matter.

Chapter titles tell the reader that he is entering a different POV, and which one. And all stories surrender up their themes when they surrender up their conclusions. So I think the escalating change in the chapter title convention, as the story approaches its ending, is a clue to the reader that the change will continue to escalate, and that therefore the change is tightly related to the story’s major theme. I think the smallfolk’s gradual appearance in chapter titles in the second half of the story is the story’s way of cluing the reader in to the idea that he is entering a different POV again, where “entering” refers to his revelation that he is guilty of ignoring the perspectives and suffering of the most powerless people in the story, and “POV” refers to his own new and hard-won perspective on A Song of Ice and Fire.

Chapter Titles in AFFC & ADWD P2