Warrior Philosophy in Game of Thrones by Francis Briers Read Free Book Online Page B

when in truth, he was trying to bully them and fight them with a steel sword when they had been playing with sticks. [xvi]   It is one of the first instances where Prince Joffery is shown to be quite as monstrous in his arrogance and viciousness as we come to see is his modus operandi. 
     
    Arya is faced with a terrible situation and the fact that she wishes to take responsibility for Mycah's death is, in my judgement, a noble wish.  But it is misplaced as Ned tries to help her to see.  Arya is not responsible for Mycah's death, she is responsible in the face of it.  She is responsible for her behaviour towards Joffrey, and perhaps there was another or a better way of diffusing the situation when it originally happened, I don't know.  It would be easy to judge and blame Sansa for not coming forwards with the truth of the situation and backing up Arya's story, but as I've said before, responsibility is not about apportioning blame and as Ned Stark points out, Sansa is in a very difficult situation as she is betrothed to Joffrey.  As it turns out, just the fact that she has seen him shamed is enough to have turned him against her but she was not to know that.  As I will discuss in the chapter on Duty and Service, sometimes we are 'in service' to many different masters (or values) and when they clash and emotions are running high it can be hard to find our centre and make conscious choices about our priorities.  For that matter, by the time Sansa is brought forward I think Mycah has already been killed.  Many people could be held partially responsible (or held accountable) for Mycah's death – Joffrey, King Robert, Queen Cersei, The Hound, very probably other Knights and Guardsmen – but that is not the key message here.  The thing I am most wanted to explore here is that Arya is not responsible for his death, she is responsible in the face of his death.  She makes the classic error of those of us who are prone to taking the weight of the world on our shoulders (and no wonder, I find it hard to manage this in myself and I have over 20 years experience on her!), that of blaming ourselves.  As I have said, not only is it not accurate, it is also debilitating – it stops us doing the real work of responsibility.  The blame game, whether we turn on others or turn on ourselves will only cause more pain, it never heals.  That is why this distinction around responsibility which Fred Kofman has made so concisely is so important:  We are unconditionally responsible in the face of our circumstances, we are not necessarily responsible for what life brings us in the first place.  If we wish to be true Warriors then we must get a hold of this distinction and live it as fully as possible, otherwise we will constantly be compromised in our capacity to respond consciously to our environment.  Our energy will be tied up with blaming – either ourselves or others.  Responsibility requires great awareness and no small amount of courage, but it is the gateway to our greatest power.

Self
    Knowledge

    Chapter 3 - Self-Knowledge
     
    “Let me give you a some advice, bastard:  Never forget what you are.  The rest of the world will not.  Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt you.”
            - Tyrion Lannister speaking to Jon Snow [xvii]
     
    Self Knowledge or self-awareness is the foundation stone of everything else I will talk about in these pages.  In truth all of these warrior virtues is completely interdependent upon all of the others.  It is very hard to be one of these things without embodying the others – as I said in the last chapter, it is very hard to be truly responsible without a high level of awareness.  I'd also say that once one of your principles slides, the others are likely disappearing with it.  This is the meaning of the phrase:
     
    “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”
     
    You can have the best intentions in the world but unless your actions consistently