Welcome to my Reread of Book 1 of George R.R. Martin's  "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, "A Game of Thrones." I have no set schedule for this, but I DO have a ton of unsupervised time at work, low expectations, and a Kindle. 

In this post, I will recap the Prologue of Game of Thrones (Will) Spoilers for the entire series ahead. 

Characters in this chapter: 

• Gared
• Ser Waymar Royce
• Will

Characters mentioned but not seen: 

• Mormont
• Mallister 
• Maester Aemon
• Robert 

The Short Version: 

Gared, Waymar, and Will are riding, about eight days from the Wall. They are supposed to be tracking some wildling raiders. Will finds them, dead. Royce wants to investigate because it's his first ranging and he's desperate to prove himself. They are attacked by Others. Royce dies. Will dies. 

Thoughts:

This is a pretty interesting chapter. There is a lot more going on than I originally thought. We learn some of the politics at the Wall. Even though all men at the Wall are brothers and they do not meddle in southern politics, the inexperienced Waymar Royce leads the ranging. Despite the fact that he was accompanied by two men with far more experience. Will is a criminal. Gared came as a boy, reasons unknown. Waymar Royce brought his own clothes and equipment, which makes me wonder where the other men get their clothing and other items. 

As far as I can remember, this is one of only two times we actually see the Others. I'm really hoping that we get more Other information in the next books. The descriptions make them sound really cool. (HAHA PUN). Seriously, though, GRRM wrote this before 1996. Maybe he's changed the image in his head as well.  

It's interesting to me, that on the reread, Royce isn't quite as awful as on my first time. He's a highborn male, whose siblings are lords and ladies. Meanwhile, he's taking a vow of chastity while living in harsh conditions with a bunch of criminals. He's still reckless and condesending, but he really wants to prove himself.  Will did not jump down to fight with Royce, either, which might make him a traitor to the watch. I think. I don't remember the vows word for word. He's actually a lot like Jon Snow, with the thinking he's better than everyone. 

Until next time!