From the Pearl-poet to the Pre-Raphaelites and beyond, the trope of the knight's farewell to his lady before battle nicely condenses the ideals of courtly love, aristocratic valor, pageantry, and chivalry. To open the battle between the Stark and Lannister forces in A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin presents us with a relentless attack on the trope. The excellent and costly armor covers a “misshapen,” stunted body, and is not even available for use. Tyrion, the leader of one flank, has never been in a battle, and the admiring lady is a whore Tyrion bought from one of his soldiers, whose early promise of a Dulcinea-like transformation ends abruptly as she sells out Tyrion to certain death in a later volume. Moreover, unlike the warlike and noble Starks, the Lannisters' primary means to power is through the accumulation and deployment of wealth.