“Over the five volumes we have so far, A Song of Ice and Fire racks up a significant number of disabled characters, far more than most in this or any other genre that isn’t specifically concerned with issues of disability. It does so unobtrusively, but with a constant low-key attention to what being differently abled entails. The books look at three principal types of disability: congenital (Tyrion, Hodor); collateral (Bran); retributive (Reek, Jaime, Davos), although other characters also suffer as the result of illness (Shireen Baratheon, afflicted by greyscale) or acts of simple, unnecessary cruelty (Sandor Clegane). The catchment area of differently abled might be extended to include several other important characters: Lady Brienne of Tarth (tall, muscular, flat-chested, unattractive, basically mannish); Arya, Ned Stark’s daughter, sufficiently plain to be referred to as Arya Horseface, and rendered temporarily blind in Braavos; Samwell Tarly (obese). What all these characters have in common is the attention Martin devotes to them. Like Tyrion, his capacity for tenderness goes out to them. The genuine monsters in the cycle […] are often strikingly attractive, admired for their looks, and, as monsters tend to be, two-dimensional. […] Beauty, in other words, is more often a sign of moral degradation, or insipidness, than of moral worth.”
— Charles Lambert, “A tender spot in my heart: disability in A Song of Ice and Fire”, Critical Quarterly: Volume 57, Issue 1, April 2015
