Sword or Noose?
This question is posted to Brienne of Tarth by Lady Stoneheart as she sentences the former to death for betraying her in her promise to deliver Jamie Lannister to King's Landing and delivering her daughters back safely to Winterfell. Lady Stoneheart or Catelyn Stark is unaware of Brienne's mission to find Arya as instructed by Jamie and so sentences her to death, and poses a last question, sword or noose, which is a question towards her loyalty. Would she take the sword in support of Catelyn or would she take the noose and die if she refuses. It's basically Catelyn's question if she would live serving her or if she would die by refusing her.
It was one thing to slay a lion, another to hack his paw off and leave him broken and bewildered.
This is a comparison of Jamie to a lion. The Lannisters are often called as lion due to the golden lion on their sigil but Jamie is compared to an actual lion due to his bravery and skill in fighting. Brienne compares his condition after his hand has been cut off to a lion whose paw has been hacked. As the animal would be defenceless and depressed without his primary weapon, so she thinks Jamie is now without his hand. For her this condition is worse than being dead.
Lady Stoneheart
Catelyn Stark, after she is killed and thrown into the Trident and brought back to life again by Beric Dondarian, becomes obsessed with killing those who murdered her family in the Red Wedding. She murders numerous Freys and their soldiers after pronouncing them guilty in a trial of her own where she judges everyone. At this point, she believes her entire family is dead and is completely devoid of any compassion or empathy towards anyone and so is considered to have a heart of stone. She is hell-bent on getting her revenge. Such is her angst that she tries to murder Podrick, a mere boy, who had no hand in the Red Wedding and is just a squire to Brienne.
Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon, her mother and her father, even Sansa
Arya Stark often has to change identities to avoid getting caught and killed in Westeros, and while she is training with the Faceless Men in Braavos to become an assassin, she has to let go of her identity completely. She is asked to drown her possessions from her previous life, which she does but finds it difficult to let go of the Needle, her sword. Her sword was the only possession she had from Winterfell. She finds it difficult to let go of something that reminded of her family.
Remember that, Sansa, when you come to play the game.
Petyr Baelish who had been hiding Sansa in the Vale, is preparing her to be ready to play an active participant in the politics of Westeros. Since, Sansa is considered as the last member of the Stark family who were the warden of the North and are considered by many to be the family who was wronged by the Lannisters, Baelish is planning to prepare her to take the power on Iron Throne. The politics in Westeros is called as a game by many, including Cersei Lannister.
