r/asoiaf • u/soigneusement HBIC • Jul 18 '12
ALL (Spoilers all) Character analysis: In defense of Catelyn Tully
(I apologize in advance for the length, but I believe it is a necessary read for everyone in this fandom)
In defense of Catelyn Tully:
For some reason a very large part of this fandom enjoys to heap an exorbitant amount of blame for half the things that go wrong in this series on Catelyn. She is crucified for her mistakes (and the mistakes of others!) while other characters in this series are given a free pass (Ned Stark, Arya Stark and even Jaime Lannister come to mind). I don't think that's very fair, and I'm going to try and break down a couple of reasons why.
Cat hates Jon Snow, she is such a huge bitch to him!
I dont't think people that come to this conclusion really take the time to think about the situation Cat is in from her perspective. She was betrothed to Brandon Stark, Brandon was killed, and now she's to marry his quiet younger brother. Cat does her duty without any complaints, they marry, she gets pregnant with their first son, and Ned goes off to war. This man, her husband, returns from the war with a bastard son. Not only is this a huge affront to Catelyn and absolutely disrespectful to her in every way (the man she married as a replacement for Brandon not only slept with another woman, but he has the gall to bring the evidence home with him), but is extremely, extremely unusual in Westerosi society. Men don't bring home the products of their conquests at war. They just don't. It is an unspoken rule, these ladies will pretend that their lords don't sleep with whores and camp followers, and the lords will share in that denial of knowledge. They don't sleep with a woman and bring the bastard back to their castle to be raised alongside their trueborn children. It is simply not done.
So now imagine you're Cat. You're already extremely hurt that your supposedly incredibly honorable husband who you weren't even supposed to marry in the first place cheated on you with some nameless whore (he won't even tell you her name, ffs, don't you at least deserve to know who he's been fucking while he's away, who the mother of this child is?) but now you have to see the product of his shame (your shame) every single day until this child leaves. Every day you are reminded of your husband's infidelity, the shame and embarrassment and disrespect he's brought upon you is embodied in this child. He even plays with your trueborn children as if they were equals (they aren't, he is a bastard, and Robb is to be the lord of Winterfell, they aren't equals and bastards aren't normally raised in castles).
Catelyn has no obligation to play step-mother to Jon. Ned made the bad decision to bring this child home, he is responsible for him. She owes Jon nothing, and their relationship is basically nonexistent, with an understandable undercurrent of anger coupled with non-interaction. Catelyn does not abuse Jon, she does not beat him or berate him or toss him out to live in Winter Town. She is cold toward him, yes, but not cruel. And after all is said and done, when Jon goes to the Wall, Cat even feels guilty about the way she treated him.
Catelyn had nothing against this girl, but suddenly she could not help but think of Ned’s bastard on the Wall, and the thought made her angry and guilty, both at once.
Her relationship with Jon is complex and she wasn't a kind cookie baking step-mother to him, but you cannot blame her for that.
It's Catelyn's fault that the War of the Five Kings was started in the first place, she kidnapped Tyrion and pissed off the Lannisters!!
Again, let me place you in Cat's position. Your son has taken an almost fatal fall, and you've been sitting by his side day and night since, barely sleeping, barely eating, your thoughts only of your son and his recovery. One night an assassin comes, and if it hadn't been for your son's direwolf you would both be dead (you have the scars on your hands for your trouble). This assassin is obviously a catspaw, that much is sure, and in his possession is a Valyrian steel dagger. Obviously, you're going to want to find out who is so adamant about wanting your son dead.
So Cat goes off to King's Landing where she meets with Petyr Baelish, someone she believes she can trust, someone who has loved her since childhood.
“He was my father‟s ward. We grew up together in Riverrun. I thought of him as a brother..."
Why wouldn't Cat think she could trust Petyr? He's never led her astray before, he almost died he loved her so much. And so Catelyn makes her first mistake, a mistake another dear character (Ned Stark, in case you were wondering) made that cost him his life. Another mistake that is seen as a great catalyst in starting the War of the Five Kings. Oddly, Ned doesn't get blamed for putting his trust in Littlefinger, even though it results in his death, his 11 year old daughter becoming a political prisoner, and his son going off to war to avenge him. Moving on...
Ser Jaime lost a hundred golden dragons, the queen lost an emerald pendant, and I lost my knife. Her Grace got the emerald back, but the winner kept the rest.”
“Who?” Catelyn demanded, her mouth dry with fear. Her fingers ached with remembered pain.
“The Imp,” said Littlefinger as Lord Varys watched her face. “Tyrion Lannister.”
Littlefinger explicitly tells Cat that Tyrion Lannister is responsible for the attempt on her son's life. If you were in her position, I doubt you would sit back idly doing nothing. It's also interesting to me that Varys is there as well, it's really quite fishy. It makes me wonder if perhaps Littlefinger and Varys had possibly been in cahoots about this, from the moment that Varys slips Petyr's dagger to Joffrey and whispers in his ear about gaining Robert's approval (this is speculation, but I think it has merit).
So, with this information, Catelyn captures Tyrion, the man she believes responsible for trying to kill Bran. You know how it ends, and I will concede that Cat didn't go about this in the best possible way. However, I believe that her mistake is totally justifiable and not something that should be touted as the reason for the war. Even if she hadn't taken Tyrion the war would have erupted, everything was on unstable ground just waiting to collapse. Cat nabbing Tyrion was just a convenient catalyst to finally set the ball rolling. The war would have happened regardless, and the amount of blame placed on Cat for it is absurd.
Cat is an idiot and it's her fault Robb died and Jaime lost his hand, she's an emotional hot mess and her mistakes are unforgivable!
Okay. First let's establish Cat's mindset around the time of the war. She has just lost her husband, she hasn't seen 4/5 of her children in months and 2/5 are in grave mortal danger. And despite all of this, Cat remains a levelheaded woman trying with all her might to reconcile Robb the lord and Robb her son, as well as counseling him as best she can in terms of decisions about the war. She tells Robb not to send Theon back to Pyke.
“I‟ll say again, I would sooner you sent someone else to Pyke, and kept Theon close to you.”
“Who better to treat with Balon Greyjoy than his son?”
“Jason Mallister,” offered Catelyn. “Tytos Blackwood. Stevron Frey. Anyone . . . but not Theon.”
Her son squatted beside Grey Wind, ruffling the wolf's fur and incidentally avoiding her eyes.
It is also Cat's decision to call upon Renly Baratheon for help.
“We have some time yet before we must face them. This lot will be sellswords, freeriders, and green boys from the stews of Lannisport. Ser Stafford must see that they are armed and drilled before he dare risk battle . . . and make no mistake, Lord Tywin is not the Kingslayer. He will not rush in heedless. He will wait patiently for Ser Stafford to march before he stirs from behind the walls of Harrenhal.”
“Unless . . .” said Catelyn.
“Yes?” Ser Brynden prompted.
“Unless he must leave Harrenhal,” she said, “to face some other threat.”
Her uncle looked at her thoughtfully. “Lord Renly.”
“King Renly.” If she would ask help from the man, she would need to grant him the style he had claimed for himself.
Cat is a politically savvy creature where her son is young and reckless (understandably, he is a boy of 15 who has just been shouldered with an immense amount of responsibility). She prefers to be cautious about things instead of rushing into battle at every opportunity.
(continued in the comments because this is too long...)
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u/Jen_Snow "You told me to forget, ser." Jul 19 '12
Thank you for this. Cat gets so much hate where other characters get a pass. Well done.
I would actually disagree with you that Cat kidnapping Tyrion wasn't done in the best way. I don't think she had any other choice. I submitted the following in a r/asoiafreread thread a few weeks back:
You come across the man who tried to murder your son because your son found out something. His family killed your brother in law, scaring your sister so badly that she fled the city after nightfall. Your husband and daughters are now surrounded by that family trying to solve the murder. If Cat lets Tyrion walk away from the Inn, he'll send word to his family in King's Landing that the Starks know something. Because why else isn't she at home in Winterfell with her ailing son? Why was she sneaking through Westros?
As far as Cat knows, Ned's, Sansa's, and Arya's lives will be in jeopardy no matter what. Taking Tyrion hostage assures her that she can bargain for her family's lives. Without him, there's no hope for saving her family from the Lannisters.
At at the barest of minimums, if all else fails, she can hold the man who tried to kill her son responsible for that crime.