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Logic doesn't matter: The Dagger Dilemma
Photo by HBO
Although not as rich in action and twists that the following books, the first volume of Game Of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, maintains a certain thrill thanks to its murder plot. Who and why kill Jon Arryn? Meanwhile, a man is sent to kill Brandon Stark, using a very specific dagger...
The Dagger Dilemma, as I chose to call it, shows very well how a writer (George R.R. Martin here) chooses the information which will push the story forward. Even if it doesn't really make sense. Because it actually doesn't matter.
SPOILER ALERT
The dagger story
At the end of Game of Thrones' first episode, young Brandon Stark is pushed from a tower window by Jamie Lannister for spying on him making love to his sister Cersei. Bran survives, only to stay in a deep coma...
Later, a killer is sent to Winterfell to murder Bran. Fortunately, he is saved by the bravery of his mother Catelyn Stark and his pet... a dire wolf.
Catelyn discovers that the weapon used to try to murder Bran isn't just any knife: it is a luxury dagger made of Valyrian steel, a rare and expensive metal. Definitely not the kind of dagger the killer, a poor lad, would own.
Catelyn thus leaves her home, Winterfell, to reach the capital, Kings Landing, to find who was the owner of the dagger.
Catelyn joins her husband and Warrent of the North, Ned Stark at King's Landing. Ned accepted to be Hand of the kind there, far from Winterfel, to investigate the murmer of the previous Hand: one John Arryn.
Catelyn shows her husband the dagger in the presence of Petyr Baelish, a dangerous and powerful Trickster. The latter recognizes the dagger and reveals that it used to be his, before he lost it in a bet... and gave it to Tyrion Lannister, Jamie's and Cersei's brother, the Imp.
The war is about to start...
By then, we know Tyrion isn't the one who tried to kill Bran Stark. First, because we've seen who pushed Bran from the window. Second because we've been following Tyrion's own journey since before Bran's fall.
Catelyn Starks eventually captures Tyrion Lannister and brings him before her sister, Lisa Arryn, Queen or the Eeries and Jon Arryn's widow. Together the sisters pressure Tyrion to admit his crimes:
Why did he kill Jon Arryn?
Why did he try to kill Bran Stark?
Two accusations that Tyrion simply refutes.
Follows a trial by combat which Tyrion wins thanks to the help of Bronn, a sellsword clever enough to know there is money to make by saving the Lannister.
And... that is it.
The rest of the narration follows how Ned Stark continues to investigate why was Jon Arryn killed, and the dagger is forgotten...
It is only after I watched the series, then read the books, and watched the series once more, that I realized that some information was missing regarding this dagger. Notably, what happened to this dagger between the moment Tyrion allegedly wins it from Petyr Baelish, and the moment it ends up into the hand of a killer?
Tyrion could have asked Catelyn for the proof of murder. He then would probably have explained everything, and Catelyn would have known that Jamie or Cersei were the real people who tried to kill her son... And there is a reason for that.
The dagger dilemma
It simply is a storytelling purpose: the story doesn't need the reader/audience to know. It rather needs the reader/audience to forget about that bloody dagger. Because the narration isn't about the dagger, it is about a war.
An aspiring screenwriting would think about his characters and his plot points, and reason too logically: 'If I was Jamie Lannister, I wouldn't give such a dagger to kill Bron. It would too easily lead to me. Any Dagger would be good enough. I would even maybe poison him instead...'
George R.R. Martin, as an experienced writer, did not think that way. He more likely thought: 'This dagger is a great object which will push my story forward, and lead my characters to an inevitable war.'
1) Catelyn discovers that Tyrion owned the Dagger. She feels anger and seeks for justice.
2) Then Tyrion is captured on his way home, to answer for unfair accusations. How will he survive?
3) Tyrion's father thus sends his army to Winterfell, to rescue his son and protect his family's interests.
By the time Tyrion is set free the dagger story is forgotten, as now a bigger plot is set: Ice and Fire are about to clash.
For George R.R. Martin knows a very important writing rule:
Logic doesn't matter. What matters is how you avoid the audience thinking about the logic.
And a great way to do so is by connecting the audience to the characters' emotions, and creating new stakes.