A Clash of Kings is the second installment of A Song of Ice And Fire and deals primarily with the events following the murder of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell based on accusations of plotting against the royal family of King’s Landing, The name of the book refers to the wars that followed when Stannis Baratheon declares himself to be the legal heir of Robert Baratheon, when he discovers that Joffrey is not the son of Robert but a bastard born out of incest between Cersei and Jaime. At this point, Eddard’s son, Rob is declared the King in the North as he leads an army towards King’s Landing to avenge his father’s murder. Given the environment of unrest following Robert’s death Euron Greyjoy, the Lord at the Iron Islands and Renly Baratheon, Stannis’ youngest brother declare themselves to be kings as well.
The book describes the politics of war and the carnage that follows. A focal point of the book is shifting loyalties. Given the words about honour and duty, a person is supposed to follow there is a great deal of changing alliances, particularly of Brave Companions, an army of kill-swords and Theon Greyjoy. Theon’s arc is started in this book and one learns of his motivations to desert Robert’s cause and invade Winterfell. Theon Greyjoy, ward and captive of Eddard Stark, feels conflicted with his emotions. While he is oath-bound to Winterfell, he also feels a sense of entitlement to Iron Islands as the only male heir to Euron. However, Euron sees him as a symbol of his defeat an humiliation and chides him for adopting Northern ways. He is also jealous of his sister Asha who is seen as a worthy descendant than Theon.
All the provinces take up a side in the ongoing war, except the Vale of Arryn, which stands neutral. Marriage is also presented as a tool for political alliance. Renly marries Margery Tyrell of the Reach, Myrcella Baratheon is betrothed to Trystane Martell of Dorne, and Robb agrees to marry one of Walder Frey’s daughters. The new arcs particularly of Davos, presents a side from the angle of Stannis Baratheon as Stannis is not a POV character himself. The presence of Davos, a smuggler, among high lords and knights provides a humble and simple version of the Battle of Blackwater. He also presents an angle on Melisandre the mysterious Red priestess. He begins to realize her powers and the theme of magic in the plot is strengthened through her.
The other theme is magic and supernatural. Melisandre performs various rites which result in the deaths of multiple people to support Stannis cause. Her justification for this is the prophecy of Azhor Ahai, which introduces a new layer in the already complex plot. The Others have been ascending towards The Wall in the meantime which leads to Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of Night’s Watch to investigate personally. The brothers of the Watch discover dragonstone weapons and Craster’s sacrifices to the Others. Bran Stark escapes Theon to follow The Three-Eyed Raven as Jojen instructs him to and discovers his warging abilities. About this time, Jon and Arya discover the connection too, hinting of supernatural ability passed to the Starks.
Daenerys’ arc is the least complex and shortest in the book, presumably to not to distract from the war angle. Her journey to Qohor describes the Red Waste, a desert, and her struggle to get past. She begins to empathise with her brother Viserys after failing to get supporters for her cause. The most important part of her journey is the predictions and visions she sees in the House of Undying.
She sees a beautiful naked woman being ravished by four dwarves symbolising Westeros and the war between the kings (Renly is not included in the count as he had died before the War started), a feast of a slaughtered men and a dead man with a wolf’s head sitting on a throne predicting the Red Wedding in A Feast of Crows. She also sees some visions of her past, her room in Braavos, her father Aerys ordering to burn the Red Keep during the sack of King’s Landing and Rhaegar speaking of a ‘prince that was promised’. These visions help her understand her family dynamics as she knows only what Viserys has told her so far. She is also attacked by the Undying who show her unreliable events. Viserys’ death, a future with Rhaego, her son who died prematurely, a dying Rhaegar, a cloth dragon predicting a pretender of Aemon Targaryen, a flying gargoyle, Daenerys’ horse, and a blue rose blooming on an ice wall symbolising Jon Snow. The predictions she is told of are still under speculation as the last two books are awaited.
Another noteworthy theme is the position of women. Women are treated as merely tools for alliances and are considered inferior to men and aren’t allowed to inherit kingdoms or even carry a sword. Catelyn who understands politics is pushed to a side because of her gender. She has to please her son’s ego to make herself heard. Ambitious women like Cersei or Brienne are side-lined because of their sex and the judgment men have for them. Arya who is estranged from her family has to travel in disguise to avoid being raped. Sansa becomes a leverage for Lannisters for the North. She dreads the onset of her menstruation cycle since it would lead to her marriage to Joffrey. The free-folk living North of the Wall seem to be more gender-neutral where warriors like Ygritte are respected and feared. The women there are taught hunting and fighting skills and have right to kill to protect themselves and not be dependent on the male members of the family.
