The Mystery Knight - Part 2

From George RR Martin's "The Mystery Knight."
If you like what you're hearing, be sure to check out my channel, where you can find all of my A Song of Ice and Fire recorded chapters in order in playlists! And leave a comment! I don't care about any youtube algorithm reach nonsense but I love hearing from people who are listening!
I am in no sense a professional reader, voice actor, or what have you. I began this audiobook project some years ago when some friends of mine jokingly said they'd read A Song of Ice and Fire (my favorite fantasy series) if I personally recorded the whole series in audiobook form and sent it to them. Having now made my way almost through the first two books in the series, I decided to join the small community of people who post their own amateur audibook readings to youtube, and share my efforts.
I have no intention of profiting off of the work that is copyrighted to George RR Martin. This upload is a tribute to a series I deeply love, and I strongly encourage you to purchase these books. You won't regret it.
Also I should give full credit to my cat, Claudio, for the frequent background meows and purring sounds you hear throughout.
Art is takebn directly from the greaphic novel adaptation of "The Mystery Knight," with illustrations by Mike S. Miller.

[@oz4087]

Note to self : Never go to a wedding were Freys are involved.

[@Amanda-cd6dm]

Note to self never go to a wedding at all especially not your own

[@InfamousB9]

@@Amanda-cd6dm 😅😅😅✌

[@iulianacaraba2944]

😂

[@bensonfang1868]

This is actually walder Frey’s dad arranging a marriage for his older sister

[@shmittybacall1499]

I hope this rings true in winds of winter with the manderly-Frey marriage

[@macnsteez3938]

"Be MY dog, ser!" That line always kills me. Dunk just utterly unaware how much Jon wants to get freaky with him

[@austinmasoni1549]

😂😂lmao

[@billyguyjoe1858]

I love that dunk thought about throwing Walder down a well

[@TheCbot88]

HEh!!

[@WCLCooke]

Dunk had a dream that involved both Tanzel and Rohanne. Yeah, we all had dreams like that, Ser Duncan.

[@user-cb2if8dy3u]

The dialogue between Dunk and John Fiddler is a comedy at it's purest.

[@bmsg1]

"peasants pride is lordlink shame" mr George got some bangers, I'm starting a collection of quotes.

[@tomservo4299]

Love that dunk pockets some food for egg not being sure if the squires were getting good food.

[@BigBWolf90]

The only thing that as big as Dunk's height seems to be his heart

[@sergoldenhandthejust1495]

Story is so much better when you know who Ser Plumm really is👍👍👍

[@vlpinfinity9448]

It's sad that Glendon is living his life for some guy he doesn't even know. Sperm donor or not, Fireball was never there for him and probably didn't even know he existed.

[@pirateboyfearless]

Fireball died before he was born so it wasnt exactly his fault...

[@sergoldenhandthejust1495]

No probably about it

[@CABRALFAN27]

Well, to be fair to Fireball, he's hardly some absentee or neglectful father, he just straight up died. It wasn't even a matter of recklessness/carelessness on his part, he just got sniped while getting a drink.

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

How would we know what kind of father he'd have been?

[@thatoneblackdude3333]

​@@Tom_Cruise_Missile well he wanted to be a kings guard so jed be a dead beat regardless, and considering he had him with some random women he wasn't married to he clearly had no intention of raising glenden like many noble basterds in westsros.

[@calebduarte5255]

Dunk’s total ignorance that “John” is obviously coming on to him reminds me a lot of Abed talking to Paul F Tompkins about Farscape in that one episode of Community. Dunk’s got such adorable himbo energy.

[@chumblewumble2422]

The Fiddler and Peake are so funny as a duo. A horrible bastard who just wants to get his castles back being stuck with this gay dreamer he doesn't like because he's Daemon's heir. Peake obviously hates him lol

[@iamnotagoose]

Never go to a Frey wedding, worst mistake of my life!

[@renaigh]

all Targaryens are Mad for Dragons, even the Innocent among them.

[@oz4087]

To be fair te starks are quite mad for Wolfs, and Lannisters are rather mad for Lions, i think its a little self internalised.

[@renaigh]

@@oz4087 Ned wasn't eager to give the Direwolves to his children and Tywin never implies a fondness for his heraldry.

[@oz4087]

@@renaigh Lannisters keep lions in the rock, prrety sure Cercei and Jaime mention playing with lion cubs and daring each other to poke the caged lions in the rock. and despite his misgivings Ned still alowed his underage kids to have wolfs the size of ponies, and they keep the damn wolf heraldry plastered on prrety much every surface of winterfell.

[@renaigh]

@@oz4087 only after Jon reminded him about his Household sigil and Jaime & Cersei don't exactly have Lions prancing at their side wherever they go, those caged Lions were probably a gift from travelling mummers.

[@renaigh]

@@oz4087 where exactly is it stated the Lannisters kept Lions?

[@Krushtykon]

Your voices for the characters are so damn good!

[@iaphlnt]

Dunk the lunk.. "You might be surprised at what some men can miss"

[@matthewrobinett1012]

Danys grandfather as a little boy is cool. I love egg

[@nasiknosik]

Great-grandfather, you forgot about Jaehaerys II ! Which is fine, of course

[@TheHaHaNinja]

The fiddler seems really passionate about "sword fighting".

[@faysuxxss]

“So churn the butter well” 😂

[@Krushtykon]

Would that toddler frey be Walder? :o

[@renaigh]

yes

[@pirateboyfearless]

By the seven just let him use the dam boot! Dunk the lunk.

[@renaigh]

and if a band of robber knights catch wind of a Dragon Prince and a Half-Wit giant?

[@Literarydilettante]

Is the chinless young heir the Walder we know and hate? The timeline works out.

[@justsomedude5727]

Reachmen be like "the blackfyre rebellion wuz about lord's rights"

[@ozkroca9003]

This is one of the best parts of my week...

[@bellamaz1972]

Nooo! Persuade Egg to resign himself to an absence of dragons in his lifetime!

[@TheCbot88]

The weir wood makes me think of bloodraven tearing down the castle later and I wonder why he used a weirwood bow instead of a dragonbone one. Some of that weirwood probably goes to make some more bows and arrows. I hope we see more weirwood bows and arrows

[@alsharpe7213]

Best part of my week too! Best part of the day lol than you David your the man !

[@Nico.S298]

Great, thank you . Cant weit for part 3

[@justinrogers1807]

I have been waiting so long

[@jamiebaker8017]

Jon the fiddler wants to fiddle with dunks junk… he tries and tries but dunk manages to stay clueless the whole time 🤣🤣

[@luisaana8783]

John the rizzler

[@viljarbyrkjeland10]

Love your work

[@tarlochansingh620]

John the Fiddler is gay, I’m pretty certain of that.

[@austinmasoni1549]

And you are correct

[@greywolfgamer9112]

how many eyes does lord blood raven have?

[@vulcranstorm2023]

A thousand and one

[@biropgrules]

i love so much about this tourney, be it the way our beloved hedgeknight gets drunk off his ass, the way martin interweaves the hidden plot with it, like this was a detective mystery novel, or just the smaller character bits. There is Gormon Peake being his usual self, trying to convince his companions that this harebrained scheme will work(while also acting agaisnt everything Daemon Blackfyre ever stood for,), fireball having the same arc that Jon had in A Game of Thrones, Egg's banter with Dunk being both adorable, yet also teaching him a lesson and adding to his character development. and of course the mentions of prophecy and dragon eggs hatching. i'll get into that in the later chapters though. I do want to make note of one thing about Dunk in this chapter. when he reminises on the girls he's met in his life, there is a moment where he thinks back at Rohanne and Osgrey Webber. it would be incredibly easy for dunk to be bitter about both of them and how it ended. but he's not. instead he simply wonders if the two of them still remember him. Dunk refuses to go down the road those two did for large parts of their lives. which is very much intentional on martin's part. it would have been incredibly easy to have the protagonist of the previous book ultimately fall down to the same flaws that he helped rohanne and eustace fix. but he doesnt. Dunk is a genuienly good person, and a true knight. as he proves when he manhadles the sexual assaulting dward(also good god in heaven, beddings are a creepy, creepy practice that could not have died out sooner in the real western world.). But the shining star of this chapter has to be Jon the Fiddler. Daemon Blackfyre the second of his name. Daemon isnt as deep a character as say, Ser Eustace, but he is nonetheless a rather interesting figure. There is the way he refuses to play the part of the arrogant too good for hedgeknights, there is the way he obviously mourns his brothers, the way he is a dreamer like Rhaegar, but unlike rhaegar, thats a result of bitter experience. Starting with him saying that he is more comfortable with his fellow hedgeknights, i dont think this is a lie on his part. while he certainly acts like a lord, He is generally nothing but courteous when speaking to his brethren from the hedges. i personally think there are 2 reasons for this. The first, is that Daemon was raised by his father and namesake, and i think its pretty sure to say that Daemon Blackfyre was a man who did not shun his fellow knights, even if they came from the hedges based on their origin, so long as they were "good knights and true". i noted in the hedge knight that i think Daemon would have made the exact same choice in that book as Baelor did. Daemon was a true knight, and i have very little doubt that this attitude would have rubbed off to his sons to some extent. after all, why wouldnt you want to be like your beloved father, the one you think is the greatest man alive. the second, is that while in Tyrosh, Daemon and his family was for all intents and purposes a bunch of hedgeknights. no lords, no castles, most probably dont even own a horse anymore. They were exiles with no home, and nowhere to go. it was a time of leanness, before the golden company had yet formed, and not in a position where you could be picky about who supported you. this mixed with a man who clearly had both the manners and courtesy part of knighthood down, lead to a man who frankly seems good at making friends, no matter the origin. This is also mixed with the fact that Daemon was ultimately rejected by his own family in favour of Haegon, which leads him to embrace friends wherever he finds them. but you can of course not talk about daemon II withouth discussing his dragon dreams. It's clear that Daemon II is a man that is heavily influenced by his dreams, only whereas daeron the drunkard is a man who has rejected his dreams, Daemon has done the opposite. he's embraced his. And the reason he embraced this, is that as a young boy, he saw his brothers die. he then tried to warn them of their impending doom, and they laughed in his face. then they died. this is a moment that obviously stuck with him for years, to such a degree that when it was time to finally cross the rubicon, he speciffically chose to honor them, and not anyone else. its not surprising that Daemon would be so haunted by the death of his brothers, as the way he saw it as a child, he had the power to save them(he didnt, but i wont get into closed timeloop stuff here), but wasnt able to do so, and as such has come to blame himself for their deaths. thus has formed a man with an iron belief in his own visions of things to come, that refuses to back down when the dreams come again. the dragon will hatch at whitewalls... and he'll be there to take full advantage of it. That is of course the wrong lesson to take regarding phropecy, but i do understand his perspective. in the end, Daemon is not a bad man. he seems a fine enough fellow, is gregarious and charming. but there is a reason why his own family choose his younger brother Haegon as the heir to the blackfyre cause, rather than him. for one thing, his acceptance of anyone who would offer him friendship and support has lead him to make some very, very bad choices in life. as this tourney will show. Also, i wanna make a quick note on one of the darker aspects of knighthood. namely that because knights(even hedgeknights) are a caste, their children are not excempt from being dragged into what a knight is there for. fighting. because absolutely every single side in this series that features knights uses child soldiers as squires. Daerons side did it, Daemon's side did it, Aerys side did it, Robert's side did it. Tywin's side did it, Robb's side did it(though in his case he's a child soldier himself) and so on. its one of the darkest aspects of medieval armies that isnt really brought up enough in the fandom. For all of Robb's military victories, its often easy to forget that every man who followed him was following a 15 year old boy as he threw himself into battle after battle, while Daemon Blackfyre, the shining beacon of knighthood took his 12 year old sons with him on the red grass field. I really like the fact that martin, who is very much a romantic, absolutely refuses to back down on the point that knights employed child soldiers as helpers on the field of battle. its something most series with knights tend to either ignore, or gloss over.

[@jimboslice6367]

STOP WITH THE WALLS OF TEXT

[@biropgrules]

@@jimboslice6367 why would i? By his own admission, this is the kind of deconstructive comments that David was hoping for when he started doing readings of a song of ice and fire.

[@jimboslice6367]

@@biropgrules you can do that without writing a book that NOBODY will read. Ever heard of cliff notes?

[@theprimo100]

@@jimboslice6367 just don't read it, then.

[@jimboslice6367]

@@theprimo100 I didn’t

[@rossbaird1140]

Do you think dunk has a little bit of the power Syrio mentions that he can see through glamours.

[@oz4087]

I wouldnt describe it as a power. I think a big part of how glamours work is not just perception but also expectations if that makes sence? The cat Syrio met wasnt hust made to look exotic, all aplicants were also told that it was exotic beast so theyr minds internalised the spell. I think spoting glamours is not just being perceptive but also having an independent mind, Dunk has shown with john the fiddler and Plum to not take theyr words , so theyr disguises and glamours dont take root in his mind. id imagine its why Syrio became first sword, it wasnt just his skill but his ability to make his own jugement of men.

[@rossbaird1140]

@@oz4087 kinda rules out any faceless men involvement in summer hall then 😓 pretty much left with just egg messing up , you would think he would have learned from his brothers madness

[@oz4087]

@@rossbaird1140 doesnt have to be the faceless men, my money is on the Maesters or the Septons, the Maesters sound like a force for good but realy they are worse than the Medieval church at supressing dissent.

[@rossbaird1140]

@@oz4087 😂✌️. Yeah those grey rats are up to something lol

[@DavidReadsASoIaF]

Huh! I'd always understood Syrio's story to be relevant to the magic of glamours but not actually about seeing through a glamour. I figure all the other Braavos just thought it was a really impressive cat because they were told it was and they wanted to get in good with the Sealord, not because it was magicked, but Syro had trained and disciplined himself to be both perceptive and upfront with people, to the point where he'd never let his expectations overrule his well trained senses, nor would he lie based on what other people expect of him.

[@max_galingumas9409]

you should do lord of the rings books

[@Kingedwardiii2003]

4:54 foreshadowing as hell lol

[@soulstarx8]

Was the 4 year old chinless kid Walder Frey?

[@luisaana8783]

Yes

[@BloodyFoxDK]

Ser Maynard Plum collecting information from the innkeeper and know all gossip.

[@catherinecao4810]

22:58 Let’s be honest, this is what we’re here for