Game of Thrones #21

Published by: Dynamite Comics
Released on: Nov. 27, 2013

The cover of this issue - the graphic novel adaptation of George R.R. Miller's Song of Ice and Fire saga - is pretty much THE spoiler so if you haven't read the books or seen the HBO series then they're giving it all away to you right there. You've been warned…

At this point in the series (still in Book One, for those keeping track) Lord Tywin's forces are moving easily against Robb Stark's allies. While Robb marches from the north with more and more bannermen joining him, Lord Tywin Lannister takes a moment to strategize over dinner with his son, Tyrion.

Tyrion, the “imp” and his father's on-going embarrassment as an heir, has managed to secure the allegiance of the wild people of the hills and woods. As a result and perhaps as a joke/punishment his father has put Tyrion in charge of them. And, as he tells him over dinner, he plans to use them in the vanguard of the impending battle with Robb's forces. Tyrion is shocked, sensing immediately how overwhelmed his new allies would be and that him dying in battle would probably satisfy his father no end.

So Tyrion accepts the plan, offering to lead these wild men in the front of the army. But Tywin won't even give him that, choosing instead to have Ser Clegane (“the Mountain”) lead instead. Shocked, disgusted, scared and crestfallen, Tyrion leaves his meal uneaten and moves amongst the wild men in the camp, heading back to his tent. He's starving but feeling very beaten and sullen until he sees that Bronn has managed to find him a woman, taking her from some lesser knight with threats of violence…

Tyrion is a bit worried about that but, soon, he's speaking with this beautiful whore, Shae. She placates him by informing him that this knight was truly no one of account and that Tyrion has nothing to fear. She then moves on to doing what she's there to do and, by even Tyrion's lofty standards, is pretty darn good at it. It's clear the two share some bond of the defeated finding something good together, with her going so far as to begin calling him her “giant of Lannister.”

Tyrion's awoken very early the next day by Shae as Bronn is outside his tent with Tyrion's mount, ready for the battle. The rest of the sequence unfolds from Tyrion's perspective, having never gone to battle previously but being brave enough to face it nonetheless. He rallies the wild men, knowing their odds are not very good (to which Bronn readily agrees). But battle they must and so into the breach they head. Tyrion remarks that he had no time to think about much else as the enemy was suddenly upon them, creating a huge mess that was difficult to distinguish friend from foe.

Surprisingly, Tyrion fights exceptionally well, losing himself in the fray and holding his own. But when another knight unmounts him and demands that he yield, the battle mania takes over and Tyrion refuses, instead using the spiked helmet he's wearing to gut the knight's horse which then crushes its rider. Soon enough, then, the battle is over and he and Bronn take a moment to realize they're both still alive. Later, at his father's table, Tyrion is quiet but amused by the fact that no only did his survival disturb Tywin's plans but that Robb Stark is apparently a more clever foe than they'd realized…

The story moves next to Catelyn Stark's perspective on another battle, this one between Robb's armies and those led by Jaime Lannister. This chaotic clash ends quickly with the northern forces taking Jaime prisoner. Robb realizes he's worth more to them all alive so he puts him under heavy guard and plans his next move with his mother, Catelyn, as they prepare to move on to her home of Riverrun.

The final segment of this issue is from Arya Stark's perspective. She's still stuck in King's Landing but due to her unkempt state and short hair, is mistaken for a boy and thus hides her identity, for now. She's scared and alone and hungry, catching the occasional pigeon and trying to barter with it in Flea Bottom, the dirty, poor market section of the capital city.

She's searched out every gate of the massive city and all are in lockdown, cutting off her escape that way. She heads to the docks, then, thinking perhaps she can stow away aboard a ship. She even finds the ship that her father had reserved to take them all back to Winterfell before he was imprisoned, with men aboard it in their grey and white cloaks of the Starks. But as she approaches she realizes they are not her father's guards and is able to play it off and remain undetected.

Just then she's alerted by the summoning bells in the city, drawing everyone to the sept for some public display. The rumors swirl around her from all the others townsfolk heading there, that something about the “traitor” Ned Stark, her father, is about to go down. She nervously and excitedly heads with them all, hoping to at least see her father again. Once at the sept, she climbs up the pedestal of a huge statue to get a better view. And she sees Lord Eddard Stark, bound, defeated, confessing to his traitorous plot that clearly is a lie. He asks for the mercy of the realm which queen-regent Cersei Lannister has recommended to her son, Joffrey, who now wears the crown and which Joffrey's betrothed, Sansa Stark, has also pleaded.

But Joffrey laughs off their pleas as being the weak hearts of women and instead demands Ned Stark's head. No one wants this, though, and the outcry is sudden and Arya tries to fight her way to her father's side. But the crowd is too immense and she can't make it. As her father is put into the execution position it's Yoren, the man of the Night's Watch that had been there to visit Ned, who stops her, getting her not to look, realizing her disguise but recognizing her. He spares her viewing the death of her father as the fatal blow comes down.

These issues are pretty well detailed adaptations of Miller's books and are great for long-time or new fans of the series. I think it's particularly useful to those that have come to the series via the HBO show as this stays closer to the original work than that production does. Daniel Abraham's adaptation grabs the salient plot points without all the extra narrative but does so well. Tommy Patterson's artwork is sprawling as he gets to cover an intense variety of scenes here, really bringing Miller's text to life here. Well worth picking up.